I Hear Ya

"I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people. But let them not return to their foolish ways."Psalm 85:8

This morning, I was reading Psalm 85. The Psalms have a way of calming my soul or matching my emotions since they are so poetic and expressive.

This particular psalm was very reassuring to me. It has three parts: to listen carefully, to recognize that he speaks peace to his faithful ones, and to stop returning to our foolish ways.

Here's what I got out of this verse:
"First, I felt challenged that I need to hear what God has to say to me today. If our faith calls us to walk step-by-step, it only makes sense to listen as we take each step. Not every step will bring forth a new revelation of instruction. And that's okay, that's life. But we do know that our instruction is in His Word, and we walk in His tough and in the consistency of what he's already taught us.

In the last part of the verse that reads, 'But let them not return to their foolish ways,' I connected the concept of walking in the consistency of God's truth and not returning to our foolish ways (and we all have those foolish, sinful slip ups don't we).

I want to dwell in this thought with you.

If we walk in a cadence consistent with God's truth, we can't return to our foolish ways. Why? Simply because we can't walk in two directions at the same time. Both literally and metaphorically. I will be the first to admit and come clean- sometimes our foolish ways seem to be only a slight deviation from the purest path of truth which is Jesus Christ. But if you've ever been hiking, you'd know that even a slight veer in the path can make a huge difference in our destination down the road.

So listen carefully. For me, that means I have to consciously take time to "re-open" my ears. To set aside time, usually through prayer or reading the bible. It reminds me of the sound of God's voice and it reminds me to be aware that he can and he does speak to us.

Listen carefully, let Him speak peace over you as you practice faithfulness to Him, and don't return to your foolish ways but walk diligently.

Meditate on his word, day and night... {Psalm 1:2}.

Today I am praying peace over each of my readers. Open ears to hear what God the Lord is saying to you today. And for diligence to lean in on God's strength so we might not deviate from the straight and narrow back to our foolish ways.

Love and blessings as always,
Melissa XOXOXO