Dibs
Life runs roughshod over me at times. I don't know if I'm doing this thing right and it seems that everything around me is pointing at my failures like enormous, blinking, neon signs. My check list of items accomplished boomerangs and even though I'm all grown up I feel like a clumsy adolescent who just can't seem to get anybody to understand. In my distress I cry out to my God, like the ancient Psalm writers, "God, what do I do, I don't even know where to begin. The list is so long, and I'm so disappointed and discouraged and somehow every thing's messed up again....What do I do with ALL THIS?"
And in His magnificence, He hears me from His Holy hill and responds in words I can understand, "Dibs!"
All at once, memories flood my mind, remembrances of childhood. Racing my sister to get the front passenger seat of the car, the favorite spot on the couch, the last piece of pie. As a kid, you could call dibs on something from the next county over and all other contestants had to leave off striving for the prize and bow to you. I recall calling dibs on something weeks in advance, "When we get to grandma's, I call dibs on the remote control!" Nobody even stepped to confront the situation. Other kids would inform those who missed the call, "You can't have it, she already called dibs on it."
That's what God said to me about my problems. Dibs. He called dibs on them all. They are His, not mine. I can just lay off and realize that they aren't my problems anymore. There's no fighting over dibs. Its against the rules.
And in His magnificence, He hears me from His Holy hill and responds in words I can understand, "Dibs!"
All at once, memories flood my mind, remembrances of childhood. Racing my sister to get the front passenger seat of the car, the favorite spot on the couch, the last piece of pie. As a kid, you could call dibs on something from the next county over and all other contestants had to leave off striving for the prize and bow to you. I recall calling dibs on something weeks in advance, "When we get to grandma's, I call dibs on the remote control!" Nobody even stepped to confront the situation. Other kids would inform those who missed the call, "You can't have it, she already called dibs on it."
That's what God said to me about my problems. Dibs. He called dibs on them all. They are His, not mine. I can just lay off and realize that they aren't my problems anymore. There's no fighting over dibs. Its against the rules.
God! Look! Enemies past counting!
Enemies sprouting like mushrooms,
Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery:
“Hah! No help for him from God!”
Enemies sprouting like mushrooms,
Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery:
“Hah! No help for him from God!”
But you, God, shield me on all sides;
You ground my feet, you lift my head high;
With all my might I shout up to God,
His answers thunder from the holy mountain.
You ground my feet, you lift my head high;
With all my might I shout up to God,
His answers thunder from the holy mountain.
I stretch myself out. I sleep.
Then I’m up again—rested, tall and steady,
Fearless before the enemy mobs
Coming at me from all sides.
Then I’m up again—rested, tall and steady,
Fearless before the enemy mobs
Coming at me from all sides.
Up, God! My God, help me!
Slap their faces,
First this cheek, then the other,
Your fist hard in their teeth!
Slap their faces,
First this cheek, then the other,
Your fist hard in their teeth!
Real help comes from God.
Your blessing clothes your people!
Your blessing clothes your people!
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