Bobby, I and all twenty-three other members of our VBS road show missions trip have returned home safely. We had a great week of ministry to the church and neighborhoods that we were in and learning alot about each other as we bunked down in a two room trailer that only had one shower. All in all we had a good time with encouragement and challenges throughout the week. On Sunday Bobby had the opportunity of speaking at the church we were helping. He gave a stirring message from Psalm 116. In this Psalm the writer addresses his communication with the Lord, an avenue that is constant and a practice that is life changing. It is easy for us to become distracted with our own perspective. We often come to God with our needs and wants. But the beautiful part is not that God grants anything that we want, but through our prayer we begin to see Him in more than our perspective. In this process He becomes what we desire and we are enveloped with His graciousness and goodness to us. The Psalmist comes to God in tears and agony and after pouring his heart before the Lord says, “Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” (v.7)

In response to his message, Ty and I sang a song they wrote called “Call.” It is a soft thoughtful song about the beautiful connection we have with God through prayer. My favorite lines says, “You reach down from on high, You put joy in my life, So I praise you as faithful.” I think this shows the proper perspective of God being so far above us, a mass of tiny creatures in the globe that He holds in His hand. And yet He is so merciful to us and gives us hope and life in Him.

It was challenging to consider this fact when we heard from Bobby’s brother Billy that some good friends had died in a car crash one night while we were on the missions trip. We were shocked and saddened to hear the news, but encouraged when we found all the students gathered in the living room in prayer. I was encouraged when Bobby shared this in his message as he read verse 15, “Precious in the sight of the Lord, Is the death of His saints.” It is impossible for us to grasp death of loved ones as precious, but Bobby could see how God is being given such glory by the four that died because when they were with us, they were some of the best worshippers we knew.

Tomorrow we are flying to Texas to be at the funeral and spend some time with Bobby’s family, so once again I will be absent from the blogging world. But I hope that you will be encouraged to ponder life from God’s perspective and see the reality: that He is the good and merciful, dealing bountifully with us…

We call on Your name
For You are faithful
We call on Your name
For You are able