“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits.” Psalm 68:19
So many days I wake up, burdened. Heavy. Carrying the weight of the previous day, with all of its circumstantial declarations and the questions of the day ahead, threatening to wrap their web around my mind.
But You offer another grid.
Father, daily, there is “new” available in You. All of who You are is available to the heavy-laden version of me and, because of that, a day that might otherwise be weighty is, instead, rich. Rich with You and free of me.
You are a God worthy to be blessed. My heart gains strength when my lips utter praise. Blessed be the Lord, I sing to the strong You and declare back to the weak me. You are a blessed God and when I bless You I receive You.
The daily benefit is YOU.
Promotion and praise of man and circumstantial advancement are anorexic offerings in light of the best gift. Father, daily I can have more of You. Daily, You exchange my mind’s wanderings and fears for Your own strength and beauty.
I worship You giver of all that is You. You give freely, God, and by these downloads, from You to me, I am changed.
Your hand doesn’t just distribute, it loads … if I let it. When I take eyes off of me and fix words and gaze on the One who assures me the blessing of Himself, I receive more. I know You more when I look at You and by looking at You, You dispense more of You to me.
Daily I come up short — and daily You pour out.
How can I not praise You, God? How can I not, in turn, call myself blessed by a Father whose gifts are unending. I’ve only just begun to explore Your frontier, yet You promise that, daily, there is more for my taking.
This is adventure. You, Father, are adventure. You are a forever-unfolding exploration. A daily exploration.
My life is one grand treasure hunt and, while I search, You have fun with me. You delight in my pursuit. I seek and You dole out benefits: pieces of Yourself like gold scattered across what would otherwise be a burnt-out field, a barren wasteland. You win back my days to You, minute by minute, by revealing more of Yourself to be found.
Thank You, God, for stretching my outsides so that my insides might receive that which I most crave: You.
Thank You for responding to my day’s hunger with Yourself.
I love this pursuit.
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So what do I do with these posts, you ask, other than just read them? First, if you haven’t yet, read: Why I Adore and Morning Chai, Explained to give you a context for this little space on my blog.
If you are compelled, I invite you to participate. Set up a space and time in your own life to begin adoring. Over laundry or dinner dishes, on your commute to work, or in the wee morning hours — five or ten minutes is a great start. You can use the verse I list here every day or two as a launch pad for your own adoration. (Showing Up gives you some practicals.)
Then practice praise.
I promise your weary soul won’t regret it.
You can see all of the Morning Chai posts with this link: http://www.EveryBitterThingisSweet.com/posts/chai/ and you can easily subscribe to these devotional meditations as they are delivered, by using this feed: http://www.EveryBitterThingisSweet.com/posts/chai/feed or by entering your email address in the second box on the right-hand side.
Photos compliments of Mandie Joy.
