You Are For Me

Recently, I listened to a song by Kari Jobe which I like. It is called You Are for Me.

Kari Jobe came to our mission in Haiti years ago and she met with our pastors and sang. God is true, loving and powerful, and God is for us. Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.” He is able to meet our every need. We need to remain in His Word and in prayer. When you feel alone or are in need, cry out to Him. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

God has helped me in my own life. I was born premature and could not speak as a boy. Even while at community college and Bible college I struggled to speak. As a child, I loved the song The Sound of Silence because it had the lyric, “Hello darkness, my old friend.” It spoke of my loneliness. When I was teased for my speech, I would say to myself, “I will never forget or forgive this person.” In time, God has a way of healing us. Now, I have a love for talking to strangers and I have a love for preaching.

Don’t let the world or people get you down. People can hurt us terribly in our lives, but we can’t stay hurt. We need to forgive and use it as a learning experience. Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” I believe people who have experienced a greater amount of pain have a greater capacity to love. I believe my pain gave me greater compassion and love for the Haitian people. God delights in using people’s weaknesses to demonstrate His power. 

God will reward each of us in this life and the life to come. I don’t seek after anything. I only want to love God, serve Him, and be with Him forever. God’s ways are higher than our ways. I love this life—with all we are able to do and see. We can only imagine how much better heaven will be! That said, we are reminded of our aging bodies and realize we will not be here forever. It appears the return of the Lord is at hand. We need to keep heaven as our goal. “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” Revelation 22:12

We need to keep our personal relationship with God a priority. I’m not one who sits around a lot reading books, but I do own a library of books and want to study more. I am a doer, and I have set a small goal of reading at least one chapter in the Bible each morning. I am always amazed how even one chapter of God’s Word will feed me. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.” Hebrews 4:12 ~Charlie DeTellis