As the deer

"As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul thirsts after thee....you alone are my hearts desire and I long to worship thee."

This is taken from a worship song sung by Salvador (although it is not originally by them) that has been in my head for days now. I woke up singing it again this morning and felt led to pray about it. As I was praying, "Joshua" came into my head. Now, I've had many moments like this in my life, where, as I am praying, God puts into my head where He wants to speak to me in the Bible. Most of the time I doubt God and figure that the "little voice" in my head is just "me" thinking about things. However, God really tests my doubt when he puts things in my head that I didn't even know were books in the Bible. I knew that Joshua was in the Bible, but I haven't read it in a long time, so therein my doubt was tested yet again.

I opened my Bible to the table of contents for a page number for Joshua, found the page number, and then chance opened just to begin to find the page....opened straight to Joshua 1:6! I love the mystery of the Bible. There is a glorious "magic" that occurs...of course that magic is God speaking to us, but nonetheless I always feel a child-like excitement when those moments happen. Joshua 1 speaks of being a good leader, and MAN do I need some guidance right now! To open my heart: I've been doubting my abilities as a teacher, wondering where I will get the material that I need to plan my classes, wondering where the creativity will come from, etc.

God told me today to be STRONG and COURAGEOUS because the task ahead will not be easy. In that strength, I must always follow God's law and read God's word. My strength and courage will come from God, just like Joshua.

Here comes the chicken skin part. After reading Joshua, I "chance flipped" again to a new page. What did I open to? Psalm 42. The Psalm that "As the Deer" was written from. AMAZING!

I am off now to learn the chords for As the Deer. This must come full circle. Wanna sing with me?