Remember

This past weekend, Tim Stanken shared with us his amazing story of what God has done in his life and challenged us to pray this simple prayer, “God, what do I need to yield to you and stop doing so that I can trust you more?” (Yield God Stop Stop). This week, we are going to look at a series of passages Tim shared with me that he has leaned on throughout his journey.

At the end of his message this weekend, Tim read a passage from Psalm 77. I thought we should begin the week by reading through that passage and some of its context. This particular “song of praise” was written by a guy named Asaph (check out 1 Chronicles 16:4-5). He wrote a total of 12 Psalms (50 and 73-83).


Psalm 77
1 I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me!
2 When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted.
3 I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help.
4 You don’t let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray!
5 I think of the good old days, long since ended,
6 when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I search my soul and ponder the difference now.
7 Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me?
8 Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion?
10 And I said, “This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me.”
11 But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
12 They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.
13 O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you?
14 You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.


Remember. My mom used to say that I was “making a mountain out of a molehill”. In other words, I was focusing so much on the problem that it had become overwhelming. Asaph’s advice was to focus on something else ... God. Tim mentioned in his story that, over a particularly difficult weekend, he wrote down everything he could think of that God had done for him. Then, Tim did what Asaph did, he meditated on that list ... “your wonderful deeds ... are constantly in my thoughts.” I would echo Tim’s advice. As a matter of fact, let’s make it the challenge for the week. Make a list and then read through it every single day this week. My prayer is that your focus would change so much that even your questions would change ... from Why? What? How?, to “Is there any God as mighty as You?”