I woke up grumpy. There I said it. I can thank Eve and her curse for my bad mood. I don’t like being grumpy nor feeling overwhelmed. I am an eternal optimist glass-is-half-full-type-of-person. But today, in this mood, all I can see are half empty glasses and unfinished things all over the house. With coffee in hand, I sit my grumpy self in my red chair and pray asking God to intervene. God always hears our prayers, sometimes we just don’t sit still long enough to hear his reply. My devotional reading lead me to this truth and answer to my plea:
“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go,
and I will bring you back to this land.
I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised.”- Genesis 28:15
I read that over and over again. “I am with you…I will watch over you….I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised.” All those “I’s” in that verse reminds me that God is in control and it reassures me that He does have plans and promises for me. I needed to be reminded of that today.
I wish I could say the grumpiness vanished, but it didn’t, but it might have lifted a little. A friend messaged that she is going to stop by this morning. I warned her of my grumpy attitude and she’s coming over anyway (a true friend).
Mumbling under my breath I lace up my running shoes and hit the treadmill. I don’t want to exercise today. I tune into my favorite station on Slacker: Jaime Grace Beautiful Day Station. With the speed set to 5 and incline at 10 I run determined to sweat out the grumpiness. Twelve minutes later these words pierced my heart:
“Hold Fast”
by Mercy Me
To everyone who’s hurting To those who’ve had enough To all the undeserving That should cover all of us Please do not let go I promise there is hope
Hold fast Help is on the way Hold fast He’s come to save the day What I’ve learned in my life One thing greater than my strife Is His grasp So hold fast
Will this season ever pass? Can we stop this ride? Will we see the sun at last? Or could this be our lot in life? Please do not let go I promise you there’s hope
You may think you’re all alone And there’s no way that anyone could know What you’re going through But if you only hear one thing Just understand that we are all the same Searching for the truth The truth of what we’re soon to face Unless someone comes to take our place Is there anyone? All we want is to be free Free from our captivity, Lord Here He comes
I kept running and God continued to speak through song directly to my grumpy spirit. Every song was not randomly played, but rather by Divine Intervention. Other songs that spoke to me today were “Strangely Dim” Francesca Battistelli, “Stay Strong” by Newsboys, and “Beautiful Day” by Jaime Grace. I’ve decided it is impossible to be in a bad mood and sing along with Jaime Grace in “Beautiful Day.” Impossible. If you don’t believe me try it for yourself! I almost fell off my treadmill when I sang along with her “I’m about to get my worship on!”
I once heard a Pastor say it is impossible to worry and worship at the same time. He’s right. Miraculously, my grumpiness has vanished. The story of Eve’s deception and curse is found in Genesis 3 , but later in the same book in Genesis 28:15 I was reminded that God never leaves us, and he watches over us and he has promises in store for us.
Hold fast help is on the way…and that alone is reason enough to get you worship on!
~April
“May you and I be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Romans 1:12