my worship response

Ps. 103:1-5

"Praise the Lord, O my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires

with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

My version:

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

I cannot forget all your benefits, all the ways you have worked in my life, Lord.

Since I was a child, you pursued me with your love.

Put the right people in my life to lead me to a saving faith in you.

Despite an environment of spiritual darkness,

you never left me. Even when I turned my back on you,

you gently led me back and showed me your grace and your miracles. You wowed me with answered prayers and amazing things only you could do.

 

When I had no direction, you spoke to me and led me to a foreign land. Lit a fire inside me for overseas ministry..

as well as ministry to hurting teens. For three years you used these ministries to open up and begin shaping my own heart.. thank you for those seeds planted.

You have provided for me, protected me, and blessed me with beautiful children.

You say that you keep my tears in a bottle and know the very hairs on my head.

You know when I am not being real, and despite my attempts to hide parts of my heart from you, you still pursue me and challenge me...

in a good way, you desire me to keep growing, to not remain stagnant.

To keep my dreams alive. Perhaps one day I will find that undiscovered island, that new place of ministry or adventure that I still yearn for.

Even though right now a part of my life seems to be dying, perhaps it will eventually open some doors for this prayer of my heart to be answered: "Here I am, Lord, send me!"

In the meantime, I pray that "out of the most severe trial, (my) overflowing joy and extreme poverty will well up in rich generosity" (2 Cor. 8:2)... That from this journey I am on, I may somehow bless someone else along the way.

(which reminds me of an encouraging thing that's happening on my job recently, a way that God is using me to be sort of a mentor to a young single mom I work with, the very same "tough girl" who threatened to cuss me out if I messed up her espresso bar and was the same one who made me cry in the bathroom after she yelled at me for doing something stupid..but I'll save that for another time)

So thank you, Lord, for all your benefits.

Thank you for never giving up on me.

Praise the Lord.

 

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