What To Do When I Hit the Wall
The Wall
"Hello Wall.Nice to meet you. Just wish you hadn't hit me so hard. Or did I hit you?"
Events roll in. To Do's pile up. Laundry backs up.
It all seems urgent, necessary, and immediate. No time to recover, to think, to ponder, to meditate, to rest.
Which need is most immediate? Which fire must be put out? Which catastrophe must be avoided the most?
Today I feel like Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn: surrounded, hopeless, and uncomfortably suspicious that I brought this upon myself. [tweetthis]I feel like Custer: surrounded, hopeless, and uncomfortably suspicious that I brought this upon myself.[/tweetthis]
I have hit the wall and I need a solution.
Enter the Solution
God's solutions are always better than my solutions. The solution He gave me this morning- Psalm 91.
Step One: Seek refuge in Him.
Verses 1-10 make it very clear that this is not an imaginary situation. There are terrors, arrows whizzing past my ear, and ten thousand enemies.
He will cover you with His pinions,And under His wings you may seek refuge;His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
You will not be afraid of the terror by night,Or of the arrow that flies by day;Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. Ps. 91:4-6 (NASB)
My only job at this point is to seek refuge in Him because He will cover me and He will deliver me. I cannot plan or multi-task my way out of this situation. I am just going to have to sit down in the lap of His grace and let Him fight this battle for me.
Step Two: See the reinforcements
Verses 11-13 reveal that I am not in this fight alone.
For He will give His angels charge concerning you,To guard you in all your ways.They will bear you up in their hands,That you do not strike your foot against a stone.You will tread upon the lion and cobra,The young lion and the serpent you will trample down. Ps. 91:11-13 (NASB)
Yes, I may be surrounded by enemies, screaming my name and trying to defeat me, but I am also surrounded by angels. Not anemic angels, strumming harps, but warrior angels, who guard me and bear me up.
Immediate, screaming needs tend to turn my focus on the material realities directly in front of me. I loose sight of the supernatural realities fighting on my side, enabling me to tread upon lions and cobras and not be harmed. (Psalm 91:12,13) So I must look at the situation with spiritual eyes or I will miss the whole angelic show!
Step Three: I do my job and I let God do His
“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;I will be with him in trouble;I will rescue him and honor him.“With a long life I will satisfy himAnd let him see My salvation.” Ps. 91:14-16 (NASB)
Oh my, how I love this. Verses 14-16 shift from the voice of the psalmist, to words from the mouth of my Lord. He tells me exactly what my jobs are and exactly what He will do.
My jobs:
- love Him
- know His name
- call upon Him
His promises:
- deliver me
- set me on high
- answer me
- be with me in trouble
- rescue and honor me
- satisfy me with life
- let me see His salvation
His list is long and mine is short . God's work is active and mine is passive .
I get so darn busy fighting my battles on my own that I loose sight of the fact that He just wants me to love Him. He wants to deliver me and all I need to do is call upon Him. [tweetthis]I get so busy fighting my battles that I lose sight of the fact that He just wants me to love Him. [/tweetthis]
So good bye wall. Nice running into you. But I have a shelter, a refuge, and a fortress that I would rather spend time with.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most HighWill abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, My God in whom I trust!" Psalm 91:1-2