07/10/13 by Sojotales

PSALM 118 The start of the blog

Sunday 7 July 2013 was an amazing day for which I give thanks unto the Lord; for He was so good to me on that day. A quick jaunt with my lovely wife to one of the local Ice-Cream shops filled me with more peace than I’ve had for quite a while. The warm summer breeze carried the scent of freshly mown grass as we meandered slowly down the road to the Ice Cream shop. I could almost taste the Vanilla Malt that I knew would be waiting for me once we got there. When we arrived, the anticipation that I’d had on the ride made the flavor explode across my tongue as the frosty beverage cooled my throat. It was so good that I had to force myself to slow down in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent BRAIN-FREEZE!!!! Aaaargh!!! J

The 10 minute direct route home turned into what my grandparents would have called a “Sunday drive.” Being able to let go of the cares of the week and talk to God as we rode helped me to appreciate how magnificent this amazing world we live in actually is. Peaceful moments like those help me realize how many good things God places in our lives

I am especially thankful for His ever enduring mercy promised to us in His Word. I take comfort in knowing that God is always reaching out to us to forgive us. He took care to emphasize this point very clearly in each of the first four verses of Psalm 118. He states that not only did He reach out to Israel, His chosen people, nor just to the house of Aaron, but He promised to have mercy on all people who fear the Lord.

As I talked to God on my motorcycle it was comforting to know that He answered me. Through the gift and insight of His Spirit He set me in a large place. Not a physical place, like a field or a mansion, but a place of peace where I was able to see so much more of the bigger picture. Knowing that He sees things from a different perspective / level helps me not to fear (or be anxious about) the troubles of this life. What can the powers of Hell or schemes of man do to me? With the Lord by my side and Christian Brothers and Sisters there to help me I know that I shall see the power of God overcome those minor irritations of this life that stand in my way.

One of those irritations that I’ve been experiencing has been the fear of never getting out of debt. I’ve worried that I might have made the wrong choice about changing careers and that this attempt to improve my lot in life was yet another case of climbing the ladder of success leaning against the wrong wall. So many doors just fell into place that enabled me to go back to school that I knew that God’s hand was there leading me. But there were so many things to learn about computers and networking that in times of doubt I have felt frustrated and helpless. To add to that frustration I kept having dreams (and day-dreams) about traveling the road on my motorcycle so that I could meet my Brothers and Sisters in Christ and write about them.

Sunday’s ride, and this blog, is the first attempt to place my trust in the Lord about those dreams. When I finally made the decision to take a ride and write about it I felt like a burden had been lifted off of my shoulders and the ride became calming in a way that I hadn’t experienced in ages.  I’ll admit that I allowed life to interfere between Sunday’s ride and actually putting my thoughts to paper. This morning though, as I spent my quiet time in the Bible, so many of the verses out of Psalm 118 really seemed to speak out to me. “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.” “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” “The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.” “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” “Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.”

The more that my mortal flesh tried to convince me that I was a failure, and that a motorcycle blog about Christians would never succeed, the more those words seemed to jump out of the page. I read and re-read them over and over. Even now as I sit back and set these words to paper the conviction that He has a purpose for my life flows through me in a way that feels very empowering!