The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Enlarged"
Pen and Ink Edition
"Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer" (Psalm 4:1).
How does God "enlarge" the challenged, hurting believer? The answer lies in Himself. When we call to the "God of my righteousness" in trouble, He bears witness that He is "a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).
Are we merely ourselves as God's trusting sons and daughters in Christ? Or are we spiritual temples of the infinite, eternal, and living God? The Spirit of God and the Scriptures of God bear witness that we are the dwelling place of of the One who "is our help" (Psalm 33:20). Our enlarging thus begins and continues by the realization that we are not alone in our trouble, of whatever mode and measure. Our Lord is, in fact, "very present" in such times, a nearness never mentioned in the Bible regarding seasons of happy blessing. We may seem very small when challenged. We are not, however, so long as God is at hand, and even more, in heart. "The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in the time of trouble" (Psalm 37:39).
Believers in the Lord Jesus face nothing alone. We can live as if God is not true and faithful to His Word, of course, a scandalous notion we must never entertain in our minds. Such unbelief results in our navigating the storms of life as if the Captain of our salvation does not only control our ship, but also the winds and waves that crash upon it (Luke 4:35-41). We may be - and are - small in and of ourselves. We are huge in Christ, however, and He is huge in us. The enlarging we require in distress involves our faith in the truth of who Christ is, and how near He abides in us, whether in blessing, everyday moments, and most of all, the challenges that find Him "very present."
"He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble."
(Psalm 91:15)
Weekly Memory Verse
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end."
(Ephesians 3:20-21)
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