March 8 - New Perspective

(submitted by Beth Abbott)

Psalm 18: 16-17, 19
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

I found this passage a few months ago as I started looking at areas in my life where I wasn't experiencing freedom. For me, a couple of things that are truly hindering my walk with the Lord are pride and unbelief. My lack of self-confidence and not living as if I believed what He says is true brought me to a point of feeling paralyzed in my relationship with God and wanting to run from any areas of service I once felt passionate about.

It was at that point when I realized I needed to stop and gain a new perspective – my God is BIG and He wants me to believe Him and take Him at His word. He wants all of me and won't let me be comfortable with something less. As I called out to Him, acknowledging my need for Him because there was nothing I could do to get out on my own, He reached down into the pit I was in, took hold of me and pulled me out. It is a daily battle for me to believe the truth of who God is and to use His promises to overpower the lies and thoughts that want to infiltrate my mind, but when I call out to Him He is there reminding me how to stay in the spacious place. I'm so thankful this is a journey and that He is gracious enough to continue to hold on even as I struggle maintaining this new mindset. The unbelievable part for me is that He does this not out of duty, but because He delights in me and desires for me to grow in this journey we're on together. God is so good and I am so thankful!

My prayer for us this season is that we would put our faith in the One who is faithful and cling to and put into action the truth that will change us forever.