Selah

October 31, 2011

Selah

Psalm 77:6-15
I remembered my songs in the night.
   My heart mused and my spirit inquired:
“Will the Lord reject forever?
   Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
   Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
   Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
                         SelahThen I thought, “To this I will appeal:
   the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
   yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works
   and consider all your mighty deeds.
Your ways, O God, are holy.
   What god is so great as our God?
You are the God who performs miracles;
   you display your power among the peoples.
With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
   the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
                         Selah...

These are my best freinds

"Selah."
This Hebrew word is mostly found in the Psalms. Generally in instances like the one above, the Psalmist (generally King Dave) is frantically going on about something. Next comes a pause. A "Selah." He stops--to think.
Generally what follows next is a stream of praise and remorse. David gets so caught up in the moment that he was unable to really fully experience the moment at hand. This stream of praise lasts until the next Selah. This is what I like to call "The Selah Cycle."
It's been a while since my last blog update. For all of my newer followers, I generally update about once a month, mostly so that I can articulate myself and organize my thoughts in a way that I can better understand them. I also let anyone with access to the Internet see these things...This keeps my thoughts and articulations centered on Christ. If my posts aren't dripping with and saturated the Gospel, then they're selfish and vain. If they're not truth, they're lies, and that's not good for me or my followers.
That being said, I've been a little busy since my last post. Every second that I have seems to be filled with something, mostly with my 56 beautiful Aggie Fish Club freshmen. (Shout out AFC 11.12, you're beautiful and I love you.) But amidst this business I've gotten to experience what I've come to call a beautiful Season of Selah. A time that's filled with reflection. Yes I have countless responsibilities, but none of them are burdensome, and in the chaos of all of these responsibilities, Jehovah Shalom has given me this remarkable peace. I am that person who gets very stressed out, like that type of person that stresses so much that it's contagious. I don't know how I have friends.
At risk of sounding chiche and stereotypical, my life has been pretty chill though. I mean yes I don't sleep near enough to maintain proper health, I shave my legs maybe once a month, and I am just a really big fan of reheating leftovers, but this season of Selah has led me to value these things. The sleep that I do get is good sleep, and my lack of shaving gives me more time to have more good sleep, or more time to spend with people! The left overs I reheat are free, so that's cool! And again, this way I get more time for people! And the time I spend with my incredible friends, roommates, freshmen is beautiful, time I wouldn't trade for anything in the whole wide world.
God put this in the moment that we're in to live in it.
He gave us life so that we can live, and live abundantly. (John 10:10)
Christ has set us free! Stand firm therefore, and do not submit to a yoke of being enslaved by Satan's lies about worldly living. (Galatians 5:1)

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, Do you love me more than these?"

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
   Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”   He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
   Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”   Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
   Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. John 21:15-17

This portion of scripture came to mind on my daily walk home from the bus stop. It was convicting. I talk a lot about how much I love AFC, how much I love being involved in a secular organization, that's because I do.
I rant a lot about the "Christian Bubble" on campus. Sorry Christian Bubble. It's just overwhelmingly apparent whether you're a believer or not that A&M has a crazy huge and passionate and involved Christian population. Something I tend to harp on is how I'm dating AFC right now and also majoring in AFC right now, but my identity isn't found in the fact that I'm obsessed with my freshmen and my fellow staffers, it's found in Christ and how someday I'm going to be married to him forever in eternity.
(whoop right?)

These are my best friends.

I just picture being Peter here, I feel like daily I can hear Jesus calling, "Hey, do you love me?...No but really, do you love me?" I can't imagine the pain and conviction Peter feels here. To have the Christ, someone who is more than likely his closest friend, his brown eyes meeting with Peters, saying three times, "Peter, do you love me?" I'd be a wreck. I am a wreck. I'm praying for continued opportunities to tend, and continued opportunities to be wrecked. Jehovah-Raah, Hebrew for "the Lord shepherds me." This term appears four times in the Old Testament. I am beyond in awe of my sovereign shepherd. He is faithful. He is a Good Shepherd.

Kay. I guess that's all.
I feel like my words are insufficient, but that's probably because they just are.