August 4th, 2021
By Erika Davis
Somehow, we’ve managed to make it to August already. The last time I had a chance to write a devotional, I wrote about how life had been pretty difficult for me lately. I had this deep need for rest and renewal in the Lord. I know I can’t be alone when I say the looming tasks of September sit right on the edge of my consciousness on a daily basis. However, even while looking ahead, God has been answering my prayers for solace.
I’ve recently been diving into more hymns. As someone who didn’t enter the Christian world until I was about 12 years old, I’ve grown up with more contemporary-style music and less traditional-style music. Throw in that I typically attend the 11 o’clock service (now 10:30), and it’s a recipe for me to barely come across the lyrics so near and dear to many. Of the hymns I have been studying, one in particular that has stuck out to me and that we sang on Sunday is “What A Friend We Have in Jesus”. I want to draw your attention to the third and final stanza of the hymn:
Are we weak and heavy-laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In His arms, He’ll take and shield thee. Thou wilt find a solace there.
In my search for rest, I found this verse particularly tear-jerking. When I read “cumbered with a load of care”, I am immediately drawn to the tasks that lay before me. However, the response to every burden in the hymn is, “Take it to the Lord in prayer.” As I find myself more willing to talk to the Lord before I vent to someone else, I’m getting more and more of that peace that my soul desperately needs. Mediating in the hymns has been a wonderful opportunity for me to take the musical comfort of a traditional tune and bear my heart of all the troubles that I’m not alone in facing.
The summer isn’t over yet. There is still time to find the rest and rejuvenation we need before getting back into the busy call of September. My request for you this week is to find the practice that gives you rest and make time for it. For me, it’s been learning new hymns. For you, it might be starting, or continuing, a daily devotional. It might be diving directly back into the Scripture. Pastor Mike spoke a couple weeks ago about evaluating your Sabbath. Where are you finding rest this week? The habits we start now will follow us into September, so I urge you to seek what the Lord is preparing for you.
Somehow, we’ve managed to make it to August already. The last time I had a chance to write a devotional, I wrote about how life had been pretty difficult for me lately. I had this deep need for rest and renewal in the Lord. I know I can’t be alone when I say the looming tasks of September sit right on the edge of my consciousness on a daily basis. However, even while looking ahead, God has been answering my prayers for solace.
I’ve recently been diving into more hymns. As someone who didn’t enter the Christian world until I was about 12 years old, I’ve grown up with more contemporary-style music and less traditional-style music. Throw in that I typically attend the 11 o’clock service (now 10:30), and it’s a recipe for me to barely come across the lyrics so near and dear to many. Of the hymns I have been studying, one in particular that has stuck out to me and that we sang on Sunday is “What A Friend We Have in Jesus”. I want to draw your attention to the third and final stanza of the hymn:
Are we weak and heavy-laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In His arms, He’ll take and shield thee. Thou wilt find a solace there.
In my search for rest, I found this verse particularly tear-jerking. When I read “cumbered with a load of care”, I am immediately drawn to the tasks that lay before me. However, the response to every burden in the hymn is, “Take it to the Lord in prayer.” As I find myself more willing to talk to the Lord before I vent to someone else, I’m getting more and more of that peace that my soul desperately needs. Mediating in the hymns has been a wonderful opportunity for me to take the musical comfort of a traditional tune and bear my heart of all the troubles that I’m not alone in facing.
The summer isn’t over yet. There is still time to find the rest and rejuvenation we need before getting back into the busy call of September. My request for you this week is to find the practice that gives you rest and make time for it. For me, it’s been learning new hymns. For you, it might be starting, or continuing, a daily devotional. It might be diving directly back into the Scripture. Pastor Mike spoke a couple weeks ago about evaluating your Sabbath. Where are you finding rest this week? The habits we start now will follow us into September, so I urge you to seek what the Lord is preparing for you.
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