Monday Morning Memo: A Dumb Ox

If you are on Facebook, you know that it often shows you posts you made on the same date in prior years.  I don’t pay attention to all of them, but one of them for yesterday’s date caught my eye.

It was this graphic that I had posted last year of Psalm 73:23-26 and I thought the words were so powerful.  I then read these verses in different translations and when I read them in The Message, they really jumped off the page.  If you aren’t familiar with this Bible version, it is written in more modern, up-to-date language, which often makes it easier to understand.  In this version, I added a few verses and read Psalm 73:21-28.  It says:

“When I was beleaguered and bitter,
    totally consumed by envy,
I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox
    in your very presence.
I’m still in your presence,
    but you’ve taken my hand.
You wisely and tenderly lead me,
    and then you bless me.

You’re all I want in heaven!
    You’re all I want on earth!
When my skin sags and my bones get brittle,
    God is rock-firm and faithful.
Look! Those who left you are falling apart!
    Deserters, they’ll never be heard from again.
But I’m in the very presence of God—
    oh, how refreshing it is!
I’ve made Lord God my home.
    God, I’m telling the world what you do!”

Do you know what my first thought was when I read these verses in The Message?  All I could think of was the fact that God loves me…even when I am a dumb ox!  It just blows my mind to think that God sent His Son to die for me even before I asked Him into my heart.  And now, even though I am a Christian, I still have times when I’m sure I look and act like a dumb ox.  There are even times when I can be, just like these verses state, beleaguered and bitter and totally consumed by envy.   But even in those moments, I am still in God’s presence and He is patiently waiting for me to turn back to Him so that He can continue to walk with me every step of the way.

He is all I need here on earth and I can’t wait to spend eternity with Him.  It is so amazing to know that God never changes…even when this chaotic world swirls around me, God is my rock and will never leave me.  He never wavers…never loves me any less…or gives up on me.  And just like these verses state, even when my skin sags and my bones get more brittle, He is always faithful and firmly planted by my side.

Are you feeling all alone today?  Are you feeling like a dumb ox?  If you are, I want you to know that I’ve been there too. I’m so thrilled to be able to share with you that God is still right by your side and He loves you right where you are today.   You and I can go to Him, with all of our faults and failures, and He can make something so beautiful out of our lives.  No matter what you have done, He doesn’t love you any less and He wants to be the rock that you lean on each and every day.  Allow yourself to feel His presence in a new and powerful way because He can’t wait to wisely and tenderly lead you and then bless you!