There are some Bible verses that never get old to me. Psalm 34:8 is one of those. I have been meditating on it lately and every time that I chew it over, it brings a smile to my face. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him…Psalm 34:8 I just love it. It says to taste. What comes to mind when you think of tasting. I may tell you about my favorite meal. One of the foods I have enjoyed since childhood is fried plantains. I love fried plantains. Those who know me well know that I cannot resist a good, ripe, and rightly cooked fried plantain meal. I remember in my college days, my mom, knowing that I loved fried plantains, will keep the ones that she had for me. She rarely ate them herself but she would buy them for me. She would then call me when they were so ripe, they were on the verge of going bad. For those who watch their sugar intake, this may not be the best idea for you. You see, by now, the plantain is as ripe as it will ever get. Any more ripeness, and it’s death to the plantain. Mom would then call me and tell me to come over and get my plantains before they went bad. Other times, she would cook them up with some rice or fish or something else she knew that I liked. That was one excuse to go home weekend after weekend. Now if I tried to describe the taste to you, you can only use your imagination if you’ve never had fried ripe plantain. It’s sweet, it’s succulent, it’s even better (for me at least), when the edges are just a bit chewy! However good my descriptions may be, NOTHING beats taking a bite of the plantains yourself and tasting it! Wow! The bursting of fresh, new tastes hitting your tastebuds at the same time. The sweetness that had been trapped inside the plantain exploding in your mouth. The succulent bite of the chunky middle and the perfect chewiness of the edges. Okay, so I am aware that some of you may taste it and not like it. But my point still stands, tasting beats being told! Well, King David, in Psalm 34:8 is inviting you and I to not just hear about God’s goodness, but to step out and taste of it. He wants you to experience God for yourself. You may have heard about God at Sunday school when you were a kid. You may have heard about Jesus on your college campus. You may even know a lot about him from attending church or from reading your bible casually. But today, I challenge you to take a further step with God. Taste! Experience him for yourself. Talk to him, listen to him, dare to believe the things that he promises in his word, let him love you. Taste and see that the Lord is good!
Truth vs. Reality
Okay, so it’s so easy to live in reality. The moment we settle our minds on how something IS, it can be a struggle to believe otherwise. Isn’t that why we say “seeing is believing”? Now, the problem with reality is that it is based on each person’s perspective. That is, if I think something happened a certain way, then that’s reality for me. This is regardless of what anyone else perceives as reality. A group of people can observe the same event and end up with multiple differing realities. For example, making $30,000 in America may make you feel poor but it the middle of the Sub-Saharan desert, you may be treated like royalty with that kind of dough! That’s bothersome to me. Reason being, we can all end up with differences, not just in perspective, but in occurrences. And it does happen. In all honesty, this is the cause of most of the arguments I have with my husband. (Now, I know you don’t argue with your husband, right?) What I love about God’s word is that it’s truth! It doesn’t reflect my own perspective or any one else’s but God’s! When he says that I am blessed, that’s the truth, regardless of how I feel or what the circumstances look like. 1 John 4:17b says: “because as He is, so are we in this world.” Now that’s comforting…because I don’t always feel what He says I am. But my feelings and perspective (or reality) are only secondary to THE TRUTH. I’m no longer concerned about getting a fuller picture, I have the ultimate truth available to me.
Overwhelmed? Exhausted? What's God gotta say about it?
Today was just one of those days that didn’t quite start the way I wanted it to. I woke up tired and already felt like I could crawl right back into bed. It just started out as one of those days where you question your own abilities to handle everything God has given you. Can I really be the kind of wife he’s enabled me to be? Can I truly mother my children the way he equipped me to? How about that career that my heart constantly longs after? Am I able? Can I still pull off those dreams and at the same time handle everything else including being a wife, mother, daughter, friend? Can I just crawl back into bed and pretend that it’s not quite morning yet? I wish I could just say that I snapped out of it before my feet hit the floor. But no! A few hours had gone by until I finally let that inner voice remind me of his promises that are always Yes in Jesus. Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG) “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Let’s meditate on this verse this week. Just the first part today – He’s talking to me and probably you. Those who are tired, worn out, tired of a set of rules that leave you almost lifeless! I can sure testify of being tired of the have-tos, need-tos, must-tos. I just want to live a life full of power. Are you with me?