I had to wait – I really did – and it was frustrating but then again a teachable moment to myself that not everything should I expect to do or have done instantly…. yes, FINALLY the opportunity came to shred documents way back to 1967 – yes I said 1967 – finally came after I and others sorted, plus moved them around – plastic storage bins in a garage – in many trusted family and friends hands – safe but still a burden of excess – cancelled checks and tax returns – credit card info and offers – such sensitive stuff like ssn’s and whatnot. Shred shred shred so that we don’t dread dread dread…
This was stuff that DIDN’T need to go to Vegas when my friend moved – she is now SLAYING Vegas (which is actually the name of a new book! available on Amazon!) – so for my friend there was no need to do SHREDDING in Vegas – she now is over there helping her family and grandkids and “PERFECTING Vegas”… Leave the shredding behind… Shredding Vegas before it gets there – that IS perfecting Vegas – not just the paper but the past – shred the past and leave it behind and walk forward into your new life – live in the present – in the moment – and with and for the new people God gives you.
And the shredding paper boxes? It took a while but then in a whoosh of a moment it was done – those five last boxes to the local state representative’s sponsored free shredding event. Had done one giant shred run earlier in the summer but then had to pause because of a cancelled shred event by rain – and wait until the fall events started. I thought to pay for it but that seemed nonsensical and pricey when a free shred event was surely around the corner – and it was – I just had to WAIT!
And it came. And now it is done… and we all survived waiting! Yes we will and can survive waiting…
Isn’t that us in life too – we have to wait – we have to wait – we have to wait upon the Lord…
Psalm 138 states a truth from David: “The Lord will Perfect That Which Concerns Me.” – and David writes that our salvation comes from the Lord’s Right Hand. TRUE!
I had written a devotion at the beginning of the summer which really speaks to me now as the things that were taking place were resolving every so slowly in my mind but ever so efficiently and totally in the Lord’s Hands – resolved to an even better outcome… Yeah, The Lord’s Ways are above our ways… and David’s Psalm 138 (and I) are not just talking about shredding or packing or moving stuff – we are talking about LIFE STUFF – that the Lord is perfecting – and HAS perfected because with accepting His cloak of forgiveness we are seen purified in God’s Grace and Mercy. And others too are cloaked in forgiveness by the Lord… We have to forgive as we are forgiven. Yes, with His RIGHT HAND – JESUS – we are saved.
Below is the devotion that oh is so very true now (and always was) for our material things and mental things – yes I had a whole big list of “that concerns me” from this summer and I had to wait it out and I watched the Lord resolve it EVEN BETTER than I could have imagined – even better and that takes time – that is not a “snap your fingers” kind of God but a “walk with me and FEAR NOT” TRUTH of God.
(And without giving details, the FEAR NOT command (perfectly timed as placed on my ears from a summer sermon) by the Lord has really really come true for me this summer – oh the relief and oh the comfort and oh the joy for watching the Lord complete the situation and get it moving again – wow!)
And perfecting “that which concerns me” is oh so comforting for my/our forevers too.
From Summer July to September (even from 1967 and before and beyond) and forever – The Lord will Perfect that which concerns me! Shredding and Perfecting – and LOVING the whole way.
Amen
Previous devotion at the beginning of the summer:
.
THE Lord will perfect that which concerns me.
The LORD will perfect that which concerns me.
The Lord WILL perfect that which concerns me.
The Lord will PERFECT that which concerns me.
The Lord will perfect THAT which concerns me.
The Lord will perfect that WHICH concerns me.
The Lord will perfect that which CONCERNS me.
The Lord will perfect that which concerns ME.
We (I) have a lot that concerns us – but the Lord – He is MORE than all that – MORE than a lot – MORE than us and MORE than our concerns. We can take strengthening in His regard for us – Our hope is in that He knows us and pays attention to us and lifts us up.
If there is anything we are not good at, we can rely upon Him to find our answers, our helpers, our path. His Mercy is the amazing gift of giving grace to the imperfections, and He answers our concerns just as He catches all our tears.
If there are items we are concerned about, and people and things, He gives us unworldly advice not to ignore things around us but to look at them like He does, with grace and mercy and forgiveness.
If there is anything we don’t know, we can ask. If there is anything we need, we can ask. And when (not if) we fall short, He provides the ability for us to recover.
Lord, You give us of Your Glory – let us know that You will perfect THAT which concerns me – by either perfecting me, or perfecting THAT, or perfecting the concern and bringing that concern into place where it belongs in the universe.
Without You, Lord, we would be nothing. So, WITH YOU LORD? We have everything we need.
AMEN
Psalm 138 NKJV
The Lord’s Goodness to the Faithful – A Psalm of David.
I will praise You with my whole heart;
Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.
All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord.
Though the Lord is on high,
Yet He regards the lowly;
But the proud He knows from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
Debbie Upper 