“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
Psalm 16:7-8 (NIV)
The words of this psalm are like a three part formula that the Holy Spirit gives us to keep our faith from being shaken during the fiery trials of life.
It involves three areas to focus on: the heart, the eyes and our right hand. I think there is a message of hope and faith for us in these verses.
In breaking it down, the first focus is the heart, but it’s not referring to the organ that pumps blood through our body. Our heart is that place deep within, that believes and finds strength from the Spirit of God. It’s the place where the Lord counsels and instructs us late at night, after we bring Him all of our concerns of the day. Sometimes a new problem arises earlier in the day, that leaves us with anxiety, feeling like a knot is in our stomach. When we release our worries to Him, the Holy Spirit comes and eventually replaces the knot of anxiety with peace, hope and faith within our heart.
Next, it says that we need to keep our eyes on the Lord. If our eyes are not on the Lord, we will focus only on the problems. The Lord is invisible to our physical eyes, while problems are very visible all around us. Jesus said “Blessed are those who believe and don’t see.” These are the times to use our eyes of faith, not our physical eyes.
The eyes of faith are described in the well known faith chapter of the Bible. The first line, Hebrews 11:1, reads, “Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.” God’s word tells us we can still know with certainty what we cannot see physically. It says we can know with proof, and it is all done with our eyes of faith.
Finally, the third part, involves our right hand, which is my favorite subject. It reminds me of my vivid childhood dream, that my school was on fire and chaos was all around me. Someone took hold of my right hand and led me around the corners and down the school hallways, while people were running in all directions. I was safely led out the exit door of the school. When I looked up, it was Jesus, standing there holding my five year old right hand.
Yesterday, I certainly had a knot in my stomach and the fire is starting to heat up. I am going to re-open my eyes of faith and as I remember my dream, I am keeping my right hand in the hand of Jesus through this fire.
Jon’s surgery was five days ago to replace the bone flap on his head, after a traumatic brain injury months ago. The surgery went well, but yesterday, I was informed that Jon is having a puzzling setback.
The surgeon called me and I could discern a level of concern in his voice, explaining that they aren’t sure what is causing this setback. Replacing the bone flap can lead to infection, but not this soon. Jon is running fevers but his white blood cell count is not high as it would be with an infection. There is increased swelling in his brain, and the ventricles are more enlarged than before surgery. The surgeon thinks something else is happening, which an MRI will help to explain. I will receive the results of that MRI today, which will tell us whether he had a stroke.
In the chaos of our lives, we cast all our cares on Jesus, and His Spirit comes to us at night, restoring our peace, while we keep our right hand in His. He is in every fire with us. He never promised to prevent the fires in our lives, but He knows where the fire exits are, and lead us to them. When we keep our hand in His, He keeps us in peace and safety.
Our family is praying and I thank you all for your continued prayers. When I searched the internet for the right picture to attach to this meditation, I chose the one below of Jesus leading through the fire. I later realized that I once knew the artist. Jon and his brother Michael, were childhood friends and playmates with the two sons of Ron DiCianni, the artist who painted the attached picture. We all attended the same church many years ago. My boys were so excited every time Grant and Warren came over. After choosing Ron’s painting, it seemed like a sign from heaven, that Jesus is holding all of our hands through the fire.
Lord, open our eyes of faith as we give you our right hand, trusting you to lead anyone who reads this message today. Whatever type of fire we are going through, we praise you for replacing our anxiety with your hope and peace. Amen