bible – THE WALK

October 21, 2024Melody Westbrook

Fighting For My Heart…Psalm 55

Listen to my prayer, O God, …

Opening a moment of prayer addressing God and asking Him to listen.

How do we open moments with God?

Do we pause in the quiet?

Do we scream loudly for Him to hear?

Is it in passing?

Is it deliberate?

Opening a conversation with God is the beginning to any prayer. It is like pushing the buttons on our phone to call a friend. We hold out hope that our friend will answer. This hope gives way to the wish to talk, or cry, or celebrate.

The Psalmist’s opening line was simply…” HEY GOD…LET’S TALK!”

…do not ignore my plea

A demanding cry of the Psalmist!

I command you God!

I demand of you God!…

DO NOT IGNORE ME!

Or…was this more of a cry from a tender yet broken heart?

Please God, do not walk out the door. My heart is broken. Please stay. Please sit. Please listen…I need you!

At times, we simply need God to hear, to listen, to be here, …

Hear me and answer me.

A cry to be heard.

A cry to plead.

A cry for an answer.

I cry out to God. I need Your listening ears for comfort. Please let me feel Your presence. Allow Your listening ears to heal this loneliness and isolation.

Answer me Jesus. Please do not let me walk away from this moment empty and without answers. I need You! I need Your answers…Your wisdom…Your guidance!

I have tried over and over again to find answers, but they are empty and useless. They achieve nothing pushing me back into the same space as though I am chasing my own tail.

Please, God, give me Your answers!

My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught.

My thoughts bombard me day and night. My sleep is restless, my dreams are of hatred and betrayal. I wake up in distress and agony. I can’t escape the monsters inside my head. They chase me down in a relentless pursuit.

because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked.

Oh, dear God, their words and accusations hurt so deeply. They do not stop. With the rise of each new day come familiar words of pain and betrayal. They have lost the ability to see me, a human. I am one who hurts and bleeds with each twist of the knife.

Threats that try to destroy!

for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger.

The rocks they throw at me are heavier and heavier weighing me down with their accusations. Lord, please lift these rocks from my shoulders.

They act violently with their anger. They come at me one by one. They come two by two. They accuse me in groups and in masses of wrong. There is no mercy, no grace.

My heart is in anguish within me;

If you were to squeeze my heart, the brokenness, hurt, and anger would pour out. I try to hide it. I try to smile, but my heart is so broken. I think I have let go of my hurt. Yet, my heart only pauses. More anguish fills it further. The supply is endless.

the terrors of death have fallen on me.

I would not describe death as terror. More than that, I would appreciate death as a relief from this pain.

Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.

My stomach trembles with fear. Fear for what is before me. Fear their accusations turn to right. Fear that God will turn from my wretched aching soul.

My fear turns to horror…like watching a movie as I sit on the edge of my seat. Friend changing to villain now turns towards his victim looking to devour. I cower in horror.

Oh, that I had the wings of a dove. I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert…

I long to flee but instead I sit face to face, cheek to cheek, eye to eye with my enemy.

Still crying out to God…Listen to my prayer oh God…LISTEN!

I call to God, and the Lord saves me.

Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.

My prayer never ceases. I look this way and that way for relief. My heart tells me to look only ONE way. My truth and my foundation agree. I force my gaze away from my enemy and onto my God. I cry out to God in despair three times a day. Every moment of every day, I long to find relief.

But as for me, I trust in you.

AMEN

All The Tears

September 24, 2020September 26, 2020Melody Westbrook

Based on Psalms 56

Have you ever thought about a tear?

You know…the wet salty substance that forms in your eyes. Have you ever thought about why pain produces water in your eyes? Why does pain from our hearts flow like water? Could it be that God is aware that our hearts could not contain the vast amount of pain we would experience in this world? So He provided a way for broken hearts to find relief…tears. Once that pressure valve gets activated, the tears start flowing. These tears then cascade down our cheeks with unyielding demand.

One day as I was cleaning the kitchen, the ringer on my phone went off. I looked down and saw a message from a friend.

“Can you talk?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

The next text from her read, “Can we meet somewhere?”

I’ve Got You Covered

September 19, 2020Melody Westbrook

taken from II Corinthians 4:8,9

Do you remember playing hide and seek when you were a child? Or maybe you play it with your children?

When I was a kid, I have vivid memories of playing hide and seek while at church. Yes, at church!

I grew up as preacher’s kid…P.K. as some would call it and when you grow up as a preacher’s kid, you spend countless hours at the church building waiting on your parents who are typically in meetings with other parents. As we got bored as kids, we would find something to do in our boredom that would not get us in too much trouble. Often, the game of hide and seek became the game of choice. Like the typical game of hide and seek, someone would count while the others would hide. I hated being the “seeker”, the one who counted because I was much better at hiding. I had plenty of practice, so I knew all the best hiding places. But there was one particular church that my dad pastored that had an amazing place to hide. It was a hidden storage space located behind the choir loft. There was a set of stairs in behind the auditorium that most people did not know where they led. But I did! They led to a secret attic with one of the best places to hide and some other creepy things that the church felt they needed to keep.

One, two, three…the “seeker” would start counting and off the rest of us would go. We would scatter fast. I would pretend that I was heading a certain direction, but once the coast was clear I would take off to the secret hiding place…behind the choir loft.