{Thoughts from Dayspring...}
I don’t know about you but there are times in church when I’m just not paying attention to the pastor. I start thinking about all sorts of things and am easily distracted. So here I was on a recent Sunday morning all prepared to pay attention, opening my bulletin to read along with the ten verses that were on the page, when it happened. It started at verse one.
“I will extol the Lord with all me heart in the council of the UPTIGHT and in the assembly.” Psalm 111:1
The uptight?!? I read it about four times before I realized it actually said “upright”. But for some reason I could not move on. I spent the next 20 minutes trying to follow along with the pastor but instead I kept reading that verse over and over.
In my life, I’ve learned enough to know that if I get stuck on something, there is a reason. So I did what I usually do in those cases and I researched the definition of “uptight.”
“Anxious or angry in a tense and overly controlled way.”
So I re-read the verse with that in mind: I will enthusiastically praise the Lord with all my heart even when I’m anxious, angry, and tense.
As soon as I thought that through, I could move forward and pay attention to the pastor.
That is my simple message today. I know it’s not really what the verse says but it’s a biblical principle that God led me to remember. The next time I get angry and uptight I need to take a few moments and list all the ways I am blessed. I need to praise God for the good in my life when I feel at my angriest. I have a feeling if I did that I wouldn’t feel quite so uptight after all.
Feel free to share...