“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.”
Psalm 94:19, ESV
Who does not have concerns growing in their heart? There are too many issues to count in the world, not to mention our own lives. From Genesis to Revelation, God tells us to pray, not worry, and threads prayers and meditations throughout Scripture. Gifts to open our hearts to, allowing his view to penetrate, destroying our distress.
The above verse is a perfect meditation. We can look up the meaning of the words, examine other translations of the verse, and ask God for insight.
- God, what am I overthinking?
- God, what do I need to take my eyes off of right now?
- God, show me all your consolations of the past. (Consolation means comfort in the face of misery.)
Meditating on Scripture draws out the fullest meaning God has for us. The promise of this 13-word verse is unmatched and a treasure to keep near.
Three treasures I found in this verse, plus a bonus.
First, our minds and bodies cannot thrive under the stress of worry and continual fear. The author penned they had many concerns. Can you relate? God wants to be at the helm of all our situations. Will you allow him to lead you?
God, through the Holy Spirit, can show us what to put our focus on and how to lovingly address each task and interaction.
Second, it clears up clutter in our minds to allow the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts away from worry. The static of unruled thought steals our energy and takes our focus away from time with loved ones. The devil wants to steal our peace. Why? So we don’t trust and give God the glory in our situations. The Word tells us every situation can be turned to work out for God’s glory. We can be part of his amazing story when we seek wisdom in each situation from the Holy Spirit, Christ’s gift to us.
When we live this way it makes all of our concerns fall into the background.
Third, it improves relationships with family, friends, and neighbors. A lot of our worries are outside of our control. I can’t control how others drive on the road but I can control my attitude behind the wheel of my car. We can be fully present with our kids, grandkids, spouse, friends, and neighbors when not being controlled by consuming thoughts.
We have the most impact on those we love and are to minister to when freed from worry.
Bonus
Lastly, with our daily cares put in God’s capable hands, we can take care of details with a clear conscience. When we are truly free to be about the business of God, loving others as he would have us love them is loving Christ.
Encore
This leads us to his consolation; joy in exchange for grinding of mental gears. We waste valuable time when our thoughts are not aligned with God’s. Once we reflect on the Word and see the benefits, cheer becomes our companion.
Yes, the scripture says cheer leaving us wanting to burst out with shouts of joy.
Picture your hockey or football team. Do the fans sit idle the entire game? No! They shout and jump when their team is doing great things. Why shouldn’t we when God can silence fear?
Let’s give God a shout today!
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A little more about turning our thoughts to God. Also, let’s prepare the way for the release of my devotional Two or Three For Our City. Thank you for praying over Delaware with me!
P.S. Update on Two or Three For Our City is with my editor for edits. Devotional Coming Soon!
© 2024, MicheleMarieWeisman
For some (perhaps perverted) reason, I find funny your “waiting, waiting, waiting” for your tea to steep. I make a big mug (24-oz mug) of tea every morning, heating the water on the stove (gas, so it’s fast) while I wait for my bread to toast. Often, while both of those are doing their thing, I do the few dishes that collected overnight.
Tea – do you prefer black or green tea? I usually go for green tea in the morning, of which I have five or six varieties (jasmine, gunpowder, green Japan sencha, lungching dragonwell, and another one I’m currently out of). Tea has caffeine, but it’s a different kind of caffeine. Black (fermented/oxidized) tea has more caffeine than green (not fermented/oxidized) tea; the intensity of oolongs, which are semi-fermented/oxidized, falls between black and green. At home I use loose, bulk tea, as opposed to tea bags. Tea-bag tea tends to get bitter with extended steeping, but loose tea does not because it is not cut up to fit into tea bags.
Place the dry tea leaves in the bottom of the mug, pour the boiling water over them, and they rise to the top. As the heat and moisture unfurls them, they slowly sink to the bottom, infusing the water as they do so. (Using a tea ball does not allow this “freedom” for the tea leaves to fully expand and flavor the water.) The leaves rarely get in my mouth when I drink my tea – they just mind their own business and sit at the bottom.
An intense tea is lapsang souchong, which is a smoked black tea. Not readily found, even in a lot of Asian markets. It is definitely a kick-in-the-seat-of-the-pants beverage!
This is probably far more than you ever cared to know about tea …
Sally, how could I forget your passion for tea. I start with a cup of green tea, bagged. Then I have loose tea. This is excellent to know about the tea leaves sinking. I shall give that a go.
It was to be funny, my waiting for tea. I have a sutler humor, I believe. I do miss the kick of coffee. There is a local store that is caring unique teas. I will have to see if they have the lapsang souchong.
Thank you for these great tips and sharing your knowledge about teas. Excellent!
Somewhere I have a book about the history of tea – natural, cultural, social, political. I bought it at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA, about 20 years ago, when that museum had an extensive exhibit of teapots. Large and small, ancient and modern, made of many kinds of materials, some delicate and others klutzy, some intended to steep tea, others intended as artwork only (like the one made from folded dollar bills). I went with my mother and two friends of ours. We really enjoyed It.
(Not that this all has anything at all to do with how our daily cares distract us from Jesus … LOL!)
That is a cool history, Sally. Jesus made the tea though! :•)
And a refreshing cup of hot tea is useful to smooth away those worldly cares!
So true!
My mind gets so cluttered with the world’s problems and suffering. This is a good verse to memorize for those moments.
I am glad you found the verse comforting. We need to remind each other that we cannot carry the world’s problems, but we know the one who can. Thank you for stoping by, Dianne!