I’m hoping every one of you has gotten off to a good start to 2012?! I have taken somewhat of a sabbatical (if you will) for a little over a month. I took December of 2011 to reflect, relax, think, and ask God for fuel. I wasn’t burnt out or tired, just felt God directing me to step back and look at things. With that said December was a crazy month in the Shank house. We moved! We moved from my in-laws, where we had been staying since moving back to D.C. in June, to our own place. God has provided and it was more than Casey and I could ever think ask or imagine.
I don’t know where you are at today but you have to know that God favors you. God doesn’t discipline you by making you miserable, God isn’t mad at you so therefore you go through tough times. God doesn’t capitalize on your mistakes by putting you through garbage. No, God loves you, wants you, and can’t stop thinking about you. There’s a story in 2 Samuel 16 that is of King David fleeing from his son Absalom who had conspired to kill him. Imagine David, he fled for years as a teenager and young twenty something from King Saul and all of his army only to continuously prove successful in his ability to not be captured…by anyone. David was a stud, he was elusive, smart, and a tactical genius.
However, late into his life when he should’ve had the Mercedes hooked up to the back of the RV he’s running from his son so that the crown won’t be stolen from him. David’s prayer to God in Psalm 3 is what you need to know, what David knew in his heart, and what God promises to all who believe and trust in Him.
Psalm 3
1 LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”
3 But you, LORD, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
4 I call out to the LORD,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
7 Arise, LORD!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
There’s something about the Lord breaking the teeth of the wicked that makes me want to put on a kilt, grab a flint knife, and go to war! If that has to be your mindset to get through whatever it is you’re going through, then let it be. Through the Lord comes deliverance, not liquor, not dope, not sex, not friends, not family, not music, not superstars, and not politics. God is your deliver. It doesn’t matter if it’s one, ten, ten-thousand or millions of problems that you’re facing. God’s not surprised, scared, or hesitant to help you take care of it. Keep going, I love you all.
