Tag: Psalm

In God’s Time

On By Betty OwensIn Betty Thomason Owens

How often have I heard that phrase in my lifetime?

What does it mean?

Hello, Thursday Morning readers, and welcome. I hope you’ll join me in a cup of coffee or hot tea, or whatever is your preferred morning beverage.

It’s chilly this week, but the sun is shining. I love this time of year, brief as it is.

We’re nearing the end of October, and that means we’re entering the final couple of months of 2019. Can you believe it?

Another year will end soon, like day’s end as dusk approaches. Then comes the night, filled with twinkling stars and the depth of darkness before the dawn of a new day.

Hope tends to wane in those darkest hours.

When will I see the salvation of the Lord? When will my prayers be answered? How long must I wait?

“In God’s time,” my soul whispers, echoing words from my ancestors over the years. They knew, didn’t they? Those souls who had endured great sorrow, and waited for the dawn when hope would rekindle.

I know life ebbs and flows like the tide. Seasons come and go. Through the good, we rejoice. In bad times, we mourn. In the waiting, we grow impatient.

I stood outside a tiger’s compound at our local zoo and watched as that great creature paced back and forth, watching and waiting. His feral eyes seemed to register the movements of the onlookers. What was he thinking? Did I really want to know?

Sometimes I feel like that tiger when I’m in a time of waiting. My patience wears thin and I’m tempted to give up.

Psalm 13 describes a similar journey as David asks, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?”

He goes on for a few more stanzas, then he says, “Consider and answer me, O Lord my God, light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’…”

David’s plight was much more difficult than anything I’ve endured, but knowing that doesn’t lessen my pain and anxiety. However, his next words raise the shade and allow the light of dawn to penetrate.

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”

In those last couple of sentences, David lifts his eyes to the light of dawn and praises his way back into hope.

Awaiting God’s timing can be painful, but He provides light to guide us and renews our hope with a timely blessing.

In His time, may God crown your year with His bounty and overflow your path with abundance. [taken from Psalm 65:11]

[Click-to-Tweet] I know life ebbs and flows like the tide. Seasons come and go. Through the good we rejoice. In the bad times, we mourn. In the waiting, we grow impatient. In God’s Time #ThursdayThoughts #encouragement

No Greater Joy

On By Betty OwensIn Betty Thomason Owens

Hello, Thursday Morning readers. Welcome.

I have officially renamed this post three times. Hah! And I am fully coffee’d up, so I can’t use that as an excuse. Speaking of coffee, I wish we could meet for a cup one day. I’d love to talk to you. Hey, we can, if you live nearby.

I’ve got a book signing at Barnes & Noble next week, and they have a cafe!

What is your greatest joy-producer? We have lots of things in this world that can bring us happiness (or take it away). But, joy runs deep and tends to last throughout the driest season.

We happen to be in a dry season right now. Everything’s looking pretty wilted and the temps are soaring past the 100-degree mark. Hot! The sun bakes the soil and cracks form along the surface, but down deep, water flows. You know it’s there, because the trees, whose roots run deep, are still green and healthy.

Are you deeply-rooted in a joy-producing life?

I hope so. But, if you’re experiencing a dry season, here are a few helpful suggestions:

  • Immerse yourself in the Word of God. Since joy is a fruit of the Spirit, it needs to be cultivated.
  • Singing praise and worship always lifts my heart. Find good music on YouTube or your favorite Christian stations or apps.
  • Pray and spend quiet time with the Lord. Find a quiet place to sit in His presence.

Joy is a choice you make. Doing any one of these things will help you. Making a regular habit of doing all of them will provide the growth you need to send your roots down deep.

Let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear from you.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
2     sing the glory of his name;
    give to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
    So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
4 All the earth worships you
    and sings praises to you;
    they sing praises to your name.” Selah [Psalm 66:1-4 ESV]

Click-to-Tweet: Are you deeply-rooted in a joy-producing life? No Greater Joy via @batowens #Joy #ThursdayInspiration

Tribute to Poetry

On By Betty OwensIn Betty Thomason Owens

It’s the last day of February. The first two months of 2019 are history. I trust they’ve been good months. The March winds have already arrived here. Will they help dry up all the water February left? Our rivers and lakes are overflowing, and I know many of yours are, too. But I’m kind of glad ours came in rain. Up north, they’ve received record snowfall.

Hello, Thursday Morning friends! I hope your day is going well so far. I love that first sip of the first cup of coffee in the morning.

Do you remember the first time you read poetry? The first poem you memorized? We had to memorize, “I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree.” That’s all I can remember of Joyce Kilmer’s famous poem, “Trees.” But there’s more:

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth’s flowing brest;

A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

[poem is in public domain]

 The poet, Joyce Kilmer, (a man, by the way) died in 1918, in World War I.

On a happier note, some of my earliest poetry reading consisted of the prolific works of one Theodore Geisel, aka “Dr. Seuss.” His works appealed to the silly part of my nature. My first and all-time favorite book of his: “The Cat in the Hat.”

Not the same cat, but definitely wearing a hat.

I read it to my mother, over and over. When I looked up, she was asleep, and so was my baby brother. I decided right then and there: poetry is an important tool. Years later, my husband and I would read Dr. Seuss’s books to our children, hoping for the same outcome. More often than not, it worked.

There’s something calming about poetry. It’s closely related to music. Say the word, “psalm.” Not only does it rhyme with calm, but the word often has a calming affect on the psyche—the mind. This is my research, it’s not official.

Not all the psalms are calm, but many either are calming, or they end up with a positive message. I suppose this may be why King Saul asked David to sing to him. Their words calmed his spirit.

What’s your favorite poem or psalm? Here’s mine:

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.—Psalm 1:1-3

It reminds me of Kilmer’s poem.

Have a wonderful, blessed week, dear reader! May you be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water.