He's my God

Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God -
soon I'll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He's my God.
Psalm 42:11 The Message

Fix my eyes on God.

The Amplified Bible says, 'Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him'.

Here is a practical example of how God helped me yesterday go from a 'down in the dumps' situation on the back of some family news, to 'having a smile' on my face.

1. I had to acknowledge that this was upsetting news - not deny that it hurt, really hurt on the inside.

[It is not only the prophet but also the people who cry out in their thoughts] My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is disquieted and throbs aloud within me; I cannot be silent! For I have heard the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Jeremiah 4:19 AMP

2.  Let the emotion come - I sat on our front steps, looked up to the sky, cried out to God and then cried some more.

My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, Where is your God?
Psalm 42:2-3 AMP

3. Be Still and listen - In amidst the tears, listen to God's voice, gentle reminders of what He has done, and what He will do.

Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 AMP

4. Recall - recall His promises, and what I had read earlier in the day from the devotion Jesus Calling - As you sit quietly in My Presence, let Me fill your heart and mind with thankfulness.... this remembrance builds a foundation of gratitude in you, a foundation that circumstances cannot shake.

O my God, my life is cast down upon me [and I find the burden more than I can bear]; therefore will I [earnestly] remember You from the land of Jordan [River] and the [summits of Mount] Hermon, from the little mountain Mizar. Psalm 42:6 AMP

5. Prayer support - I contacted some people, confessing that I was struggling with this news, asking them to please pray for me.

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. James 5:16 AMP

6. Make declarations in worship - from one of my current favourite worship songs (No longer slaves) - 'I am no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God'. Earlier in the day I had played that one song continuously for an hour - God obviously knew I needed to get a deeper understanding of this truth.

Yet the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:8 AMP

7. Rest - I can now, having acknowledged the emotions, sought God, heard God, asked for prayer support, and reminded my soul that I am child of God, and He has it in hand. 

Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and by disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
Psalm 42:11 AMP

I pray that what I have shared today is a help to anyone who is facing a situation that seems hopeless, giving some practical steps on how to fix our eyes on God. He is there in the midst, He is our hope. He has made a way for us - Jesus.

Now that we know what we have - Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God - let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a high priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all - all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help. Hebrews 4:14-16 The Message