Psalm 30:5
"For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning"
weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning"
The first part of the verse tells me how much God loves us. He disciplines us, for a moment, then continues to love us forever. It also shows me that God moves on after being angry with us, and doesn't sulk or make himself stay angry. This is something I can learn from, to let go of past wrongs done to me.
The second part of the verse reminds me of how we live an imperfect life here on earth, but it will be followed by a perfect life in heaven. We may suffer many hardships here, but better days are ahead where we won't have hardships anymore. Looking at the big picture helps.
In our New Testament reading, we see that Paul and Barnabas were given respect by the church in Antioch for how they risked their lives for the Gospel. The people listened and were encouraged by what Paul and Barnabas said, and they stayed longer in Antioch then originally planned. But later we read how Paul and Barnabas had a falling out and parted ways. This happens in our churches today as well, we don't always agree or see eye to eye with everyone. It is my duty to love those I disagree with, which can be difficult, but is my job to do. I pray for help in these situations.
3 comments:
I love how Psalm 29 speaks to how powerful the voice of God is. It's amazing to think that He can create the universe just by speaking it into existence! Truly, all praise and glory belong only to Him.
A good reminder to us that our words are powerful too. Not to the extent that God's is, of course. But a reminder to be careful what we say - our words have the power to build up and tear down.
It seems crazy to think that two such godly men as Paul and Barnabas could come to a disagreement so at odds with each other that they could not resolve it. What a great example of Christian love, that even disagreements can be handled peaceably. A hard lesson to apply in our lives!
That verse from Psalm stood out for me too because it reminds me that our suffering "night" does eventually end "morning". Nothing we endure here on earth lasts forever.
I also thought about Paul and Barnabas parting ways and I think sometimes we get ideas in our heads that prevent us from seeing things in a different way and it costs us relationships.
A good point about the words we choose to use Tammy.
The same verse in Psalm 30 stood out for me too. It is a great example to follow when we have anger with others. We will all experience anger, but we need to be able to leave that anger behind us and continue on in love.
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