On the the Next Thing

Ministry can be tiring and there can be moments of wanting to throw in the towel. But then there are also those moments when someone's life is changed and I think, "There it is." "This is the reason I keep pressing on."

There were a few of those "aha" moments this past weekend. I opened up my Bible to read this morning and this was the passage I landed on. 

Psalm 116:12-14 ~ 

How can I repay the Lord 
for all the good he has done for me? 
I wil take the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord. 
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.

God has been so good to me despite my inadequacies. I want to continue to press into the calling He gave me so many years ago. His goodness is there even when I forget to recognize it. 

It's there in the good times and the bad. It's there when others praise you or when they criticize. It's there in times of abundance or times of scarcity. 

David is asking a question that cannot be answered. We cannot repay the Lord's goodness. But we can press in to His name. We can fulfill what we have told Him we would do. We can continue to follow where He leads.

The next part of that Psalm says, 

The death of his faithful ones

is valuable in the Lord’s sight.

Lord, I am indeed your servant;

I am your servant, the son of your female servant.

You have loosened my bonds.

When we stay faithful despite uncertainty, we will enter into His presence some day and hear Him say, "Well done." David then hammers home the fact that he will continue to fulfill the vows that he made to the Lord. 

I will offer you a thanksgiving sacrifice

and call on the name of the Lord.

I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people,

in the courts of the Lord’s house—

within you, Jerusalem.

Hallelujah!

May that be true of all of us. Stay the course and press in to what God has for you. Go on to the next thing and remember the goodness of God.