Gratitude Is the Lifeline to Joyಮಾದರಿ

Day 6: OMRG

By Sam Kelly

Read: Psalm 4

Answer me when I call to you,
O God who declares me innocent.
Free me from my troubles.
Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

2 How long will you people ruin my reputation?
How long will you make groundless accusations?
How long will you continue your lies?
Interlude
3 You can be sure of this:
The Lord set apart the godly for himself.
The Lord will answer when I call to him.

4 Don’t sin by letting anger control you.
Think about it overnight and remain silent.
Interlude
5 Offer sacrifices in the right spirit,
and trust the Lord.

6 Many people say, “Who will show us better times?”
Let your face smile on us, Lord.
7 You have given me greater joy
than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.

Reflection:

What does it take to stir you up? One newscast? A day with double-booked work/school meetings? Those moments where you miss things that have changed with a deep heart longing into tears, and then there’s nowhere to cry that they won’t see you?

“Are you OK?” they ask. I mean, I’m ok. Just not great. You know?

I was reading Psalm 4, which says: “In your anger do not sin.” What kind of sin? I thought about those stirred-up times. Angry and worried thoughts in my head that play over and over. Is that the sin you are talking about, Lord? Is it when I eat my frustration in kettle chips? Is it when I hate not knowing what’s next?

Mostly, I’m functional, but I reach a toxic load where it spills out in irritation at the person shopping so slowly at the grocery store… or in an edgy tone with my husband… or losing my patience with Zoe and seeing her eyes so big and shocked at my intensity.

I know God gets that I’m messy. But He’s gracious, and He wants a more peaceful life for me. He says. “Search your hearts and be silent.” There’s gonna be mess on the outside. There doesn’t have to be so much mess on the inside.

I think of Jesus in the boat with His guys. They were freaking out from the storm, and He asked them, “Where is your faith?” Then He told the waters, “Peace. Be still.” He speaks the same over us.

Lord, calm the waters of my heart. Let my thoughts lie smooth upon you. And in that calm. Gratitude.

Thank you for the storms you’ve delivered me from. Thank you for just not being delivered, but also thank you for the storm, because without it, I’d never have that moment where I am spent and back in your arms. Finally at rest. Feeling Your love and Your purpose for me in every cell and every circumstance.

The peace that comes in the storm is ours when we remember who He is. Do you think you could have slept in the boat? During the storm? What kind of sleep would that be? Maybe the kind that we read at the end of Psalm 4 where it says, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone O Lord make me dwell in safety.”

He sees you. He hears you. I like at the beginning of Psalm 4 where it says, “Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress…”

O My Righteous God. OMRG. It’s become my sort of shortcut for calling out to him and for remembering who calms the storms and who calms me.