Mown Grass

In two days our church will be starting another time of fasting and prayer. Are you uncomfortable with this? Does it seem that there is absolutely NO WAY you can not eat for part of a day, or a whole day, or two whole days? Does it seem impossible to set aside time just to pray? Where would that time come from, what with kids and all?

May I ask you a couple of different questions? "Have you ever felt like mown grass, ready to wither beneath the summer sun, unless refreshed by rain?" (Amy Carmichael) Have you ever felt needy? poor? helpless? weak? oppressed?

Psalm 72 provides the answer for these human emotions. As women we know too well the feelings of fatigue, discouragement, and helplessness. I know women who are at this moment feeling abandoned and uncertain about the future. I know women whose husbands have lost their jobs. Certainly they are feeling financially poor and needy. I know women who are feeling oppressed by their employer, or their unbelieving husband. I know women who are weighed down with the cares of a needy loved one. I know women who live in sorrow for their rebellious son or daughter.

How good it is to know that we have a God who cares and has provided us the answer for all these needs. How good it is to know the God who has provided for our greatest need: sin. Jesus, who gave His life on the cross to bear the penalty for our sin, is our burden bearer for all of life. This Great Savior now lives as our Great High Priest, and is able to "sympathize with our weaknesses, because he was in every respect tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Ladies, I'd like to encourage you to spend some time in the next few days reading the Psalms. May I suggest Psalm 46, 57, and 103 for starters? Or, if you are feeling condemnation under the burden of your sin, Psalm 51 (in combination with Romans 8) is for you. Or if you are in a place where you are simply hungering for More of God, in Psalm 63 you will find joy in the company of another who also thirsted for God.

Tomorrow I'd like to share a few suggestions for how to fit MOG into your schedule and lifestyle. But for now, may God's word and His Holy Spirit pour over your soul like refreshing rain. I am in prayer for you that this will be your experience and great delight.