Kristin Saatzer

Purposeful Encouragement

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Wonderful Wonder!

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“The Heaven’s declare the glory of God;

the sky displays

His handiwork.” Psalm 19:1 NET

View from Hubble Space telescope

                  view from the Hubble Space telescope                                                            techtimes.com

Whenever I spend time with a little person, I find myself in awe of their awe. Little people around the age of three to four in particular.

This darling group tends to view the entire world through a lens of wonder (vegetables and naps excluded).

Hanging out with them is altogether contagious and exhausting.

I cherish the memories of walking with my little boys: examining snails, smelling flowers, petting puppies, climbing trees and jumping in rain puddles. Their little voices expressing awe over God’s creation.

David the Shepherd turned king shares his wonderment over God’s glorious creation in Psalm 19:1. He raves over the heaven’s, declaring God’s glory. This poetic king relishes the sky as it displays God’s handiwork. How can we not be brought to wonderment through David’s words?

God’s creation is a miraculous portrait. But we must choose to view it this way, not just on a sunny, 75-degree day when all is right in our lives. Living a life of awe comes naturally to us as children. As we grow, we lose much of it. Living the grown-up life is not so awe-inspiring at times.

This springtime finds me wanting to catch David’s contagious spirit. My schedule is cooking and my mind reels as I jump from thing to thing. Yet, I intentionally stop  to breathe. To admire. To wonder. Allowing myself moments of awe.

And you? Are your circumstances dictating a lack of awe in your life? Too busy? Bitterness overflowing? Losses too great to get past?

Can I challenge you to take a small step towards wonder? Or a giant step back to your childhood self? Just for a moment? Savor the wonders of spring: the warm breezes, the crisp white clouds, purple blooms, and fresh-cut grass. God’s handiwork. 

And if your world includes a little person to share this with, you are doubly blessed (and tired).

 

For further reading:   

Romans 1:20

Psalm 8:1

Jeremiah 31:35

 

FullSizeRender (5)

Dear Lord,

Stop us with your glory and handiwork this spring! Renew us as we grow in our awe of awe. Cause us to wonder as children as we breathe deeply in You.

Amen

 

 

 

                              ralphwaldoemmersonquote

 

 

 

 

Words of Godlight

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holy-bible (1)

Waking up with pain in my side, I pulled the covers down to investigate; my Bible lay bunched up against my ribs.

Bad news had come the night before as I readied for bed. The tears fell until they couldn’t. As night closed in, so did fingers of darkness around my heart as I grieved. Desperate for comfort and sleep, I brought my beloved Bible into bed with me. Holding it in my arms, I fell asleep as the sun rose through my window.

Psalm 119 was the passage I read that night. It is a passage I often go to. “The Word of God” is the theme of this, the longest Psalm. In it, King David continually tells us how God’s Word is our guide. God’s Word gives us direction and light in our darkness.

To me, the premier verse of this Psalm is 105:

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

Firstly, I love the metaphor of The Word of God being a lamp, shining on my feet as I look down. This lamp shows me the way and gives me directed light to my otherwise stumbling steps. Turning this lamp on in the middle of my darkest nights, brings hope and comfort.

Secondly, The Bible is a beam shining on the road ahead. The upcoming path looks scary in the dark, but His light gives me the courage to begin – assuring me The Light of The Lord will be with me, illuminating the way.

What indescribable strength this verse provides me. I stand  amazed by the countless times scripture has been my guide- my lamp, my light.

And you? Have words of Godlight been your comfort and guide? How about your current situation? Do you need to open His Word for help and hope in your darkness? Psalm 119 is a great place to start.

As the  sun rose on the morning after my world shook, I held my bible close. The precious words of my Savior beamed as a lamp of hope to my hurting heart. God’s Words lit up the frightening path ahead and made me brave as I faced the new day and difficult days ahead.

Looking back, there is no way I could have walked my painful path (and oh so many others) without the Word of God as my light.

My GODLIGHT.

We live as those on a journey home: a home we know will have the light on and the door open and our Father waiting for us when we arrive… ~Unknown

PC: myglimpseofglory.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Pattern of Hope

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Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,

My Savior and my God.

Psalm 45:3

Starry night

 

The nurse asked me to rate my pain level on a scale of one to five. One to five? Fifteen I screamed in my head! Then I breathed deeply and replied, “three”. A seemingly brave yet dishonest answer.

A simple surgery gone bad. A predicted one-week recovery turned into months of pain.

Yet  another season of my life spent in physical pain and emotional defeat. Downcast and disturbed much like our favorite Old Testament shepherd turned king- David.

I love the Psalms. In the high and low turns of my life, I always go there. One-hundred and fifty Psalms written as poetry, prayers or music by fifty-seven authors.

Psalm forty-five, verse three is a repetition verse. These same words were spoken by David three times,  refrains written by a hurting soul. When something repeats in scripture, I take notice. In this particular refrain, I see a pattern.

In the first part of the Psalm, David asked questions to himself, “Why my soul are you downcast…Why so disturbed within me?”

Me too David, me too.

To myself I’ve asked, “Why am I so down?” “What is wrong with me today?” To God, “God, why are you allowing me to suffer yet AGAIN?”

You too?

Life on earth is one big question mark.

And my friend, it is OK to ask. That’s what the people in the Bible did and so can we. Unload your heart to Him. We don’t have to be brave yet dishonest  with our pain because He is the Mighty Counselor. He knows the pain you are experiencing is a fifteen and not a one.

But we  must not stay here though, in this place of asking. It is essential to take the next step or bitterness and discouragement will consume us.

As we peek at part two of this Psalm, we see that David turned to HOPE and PRAISE after his time of questioning. “…Put your hope in God and I will yet praise Him…”

The Greek definition of hope is:  confident expectation.

This is no willy-nilly kind of hope. This is a confident hope in knowing that our God is for us. We wait with  expectancy,  remembering He is there, no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in.

Next, after choosing to hope, David chose praise. Praise is my  greatest comfort in trials. I call it “praise-therapy”. We praise Him not because He needs it but because we need it and He is worthy of our praise.

Matthew Henry said,

The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of mercies.

Amen.

David’s blueprint is one to follow. Let’s go to God with our pain and honest questions, then let Him lead us to HOPE and PRAISE. Keep coming back to it until David’s pattern is your pattern.

Oh and here’s a little free advice… when the person who can greatly reduce your pain asks you to rate it, be honest and tell her it’s a fifteen. Save the bravery for another day.

Exercise Hope

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“But as for me, I will hope continually and will praise You yet more and more.”  Psalm 71:14 NASB

My sister Jeni LOVES to exercise. Rarely a day  goes by without a workout, it is intrinsic to who she is.

Not me. Although I enjoy exercise, I have to work at working out. I need to plan it into my day or it won’t happen. Exercise is an exercise in planning and diligence.

As a child, Jeni hated exercise (we both did). I remember tears on hikes, sudden illnesses before the “100 Yard Dash” at school, and creative excuses made to get out of many torturous exercise events.

Because of continuous workouts over the course of decades, my sister is now a pro! She went from a little girl crying on hikes, to become a distance runner and has enjoyed a career in the exercise industry. As a result of habits ingrained over time, Fitness is now a part of her person.

Many of us are this way when it comes to praising God. It’s not inherent to immediately think and speak words of hope and praise when the storms of life come. Instead, we go to our default mechanisms. Some of my defaults come in the form of discouragement or questions like, “me again” or “why God?”

The Psalmist says in chapter seventy-one verse fourteen that he will hope continually and praise the Lord yet more and more. Hmmm…  to continually hope and praise the Lord more and more.  This doesn’t come naturally to my sometimes melancholy  personality.

I enjoy reading about Christian Saints in history and in the Bible. It brings me comfort to know many of them weren’t natural “praisers”. It was something that they trained themselves to do through the power of the Holy Spirit and habit. Eventually, it became their default response, and they became people overflowing with  hope and praise.

 Like my sister, they did not begin as they finished.

Hope and praise  can become deep-seated in us by exercising our faith muscles, as the Saints did.

Let’s begin with diligence and intention. Here’s a few practical steps:

~ Scripture memorization- chose verses that focus on Praise

~ Daily praise and thanksgiving- I use a journal to record mine

~Become intimate with those who walk in hope and praise- they will rub off on you

~ Dedicate yourself to God daily

~ Evaluate in prayer at night

~ Do it again, the next day and the next and the next… until…

It is you who are rubbing off on those around you in Praise and Hope.

So here’s to our first laps,  knowing we will not end where we started.

 

 

Exercise and running

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