7 Actionable Steps to get the help from the Lord – Psalms 121
Seeking Strength in Psalm 121:1-2 I lift up my eyes to the mountains where does my help comes from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
In the journey of life, Psalm 121:1-2 serves as a powerful guide, offering profound insights for those navigating challenges. Here are seven actionable steps inspired by this truth:
1️⃣ Lift Your Eyes: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?” Let’s raise our gaze beyond immediate concerns, acknowledging a higher source of strength and guidance.
2️⃣ Recognize the Source: “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Acknowledge that your assistance and strength originate from a Creator who crafted the vastness of the heavens and the earth.
3️⃣ Embrace Trust: “He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber.” Trust in the unwavering vigilance of a guardian who never sleeps, ensuring your steps are secure.
4️⃣ Cultivate Assurance: “Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” Rest in the assurance that divine watchfulness is continuous, providing a sense of security and peace.
5️⃣ Tap into Renewed Energy: “The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand.” Imagine a protective shade, shielding you from weariness and offering renewed energy for the journey.
6️⃣ Stay Grounded: “The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.” In the midst of life’s challenges, stand firm in the knowledge that neither the brightness of day nor the shadows of night can overpower your resilience.
7️⃣ Affirm Life’s Journey: “The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life.” Reaffirm your belief that, under divine guidance, your journey is safeguarded from harm, and your life is under the watchful care of a benevolent protector.
May these actions inspired by Psalm 121:1-2 serve as a compass, guiding you towards strength, trust, and assurance in the grand tapestry of life.
#Psalm121 #StrengthInFaith #GuidedByGrace #Work-Life-Insights
Courtesy : This article is written by Anand Pillai, Chief Transformation Officer & Leadership Coach @ Leadership Matters Inc, New Delhi, India.
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The Mango Tree – 3/3
Continued from Part 2/3…
And after few days/weeks, when I looked at the branch, there were so many leaves and what was more interesting was, a cat was taking rest comfortably in the midst of the leaves. The cat is not very much visible, but it is right amidst the leaves in the above photo. What a transformation of the branch!!. From being in a dead situation, to grow and provide shelter also, it was a great transformation of what seemed to be a foregone conclusion of defeat, despair.
God spoke to me through this entire episode and built up my faith in particular, to stay in hope for my situation. It was tough scenarios all around, personally, professionally, but still by His grace, He enabled me to stay afloat and be focused on Him. It is all about Jesus, in any situation, any stage. My Lord and Saviour Jesus can bring about the change.
Build yourself inside out – that is very important. I have seen atleast 2 huge trees, may be 5 times the size of this tree, fall down in couple of cyclones and when I saw the tree trunk, it was hollow and no wonder that it fell. While it looked huge and strong on the outside, but it was not strong inside, which caused the fall.
Similarly, being focused on what God has called us to do is the key point of reviving our situations or bringing in hope. It is not that always God will help us achieve what we want to. Surrender to His will. For he knows what is best for us – Jeremiah 29:11
And finally,God blessed me with a splendid opening, all Glory to HIs name. And it all got concluded in the pandemic period, in a very senior level. All Glory, Honor and Praise be to God. It is always all about Him. Not that, always we will get what we want. Be’cos God knows what is best for us. And like the tree above, when we are blessed, we will overflow and bless others also. God has a very definitive purpose in making us wait. What I have learnt in my periods of waiting is, God wants us to teach a lesson (which will be of great help to us in life and for others also) and until the lesson is learnt, the waiting period doesnt end.
And how God will use this waiting period in our life, in the years to come is just unimaginable. I can keep talking about many parts of my life about this. But still when we come across a problem in our life, we tend to focus on that as the biggest of all of our life and lose focus on God and not build our faith. It’s time to build our faith in our time of waiting, disappointment, despair.
Don’t give up, but give it up to God’s Hands
Whenever I had a situation in which I could do nothing, absolutely nothing, I always left it for God to handle. But in situations where I “thought” I had a solution or a way, that is when I tried to act smart. But, if we commit everything to His hands, He can work out His plans in our lives, in every aspect and make it best. Amen.
The Mango Tree – 2/3
Continued from Part 1/3…
After few days, I saw these fresh leaves spring out from what seemed to be a dead branch. It was very surprising…if you look very closely, you can also see some ants on it. A tree is just not a single entity, but a huge system, which provides to many. Similarly, in our life also, we are called to provide…but in tough situations, we tend to forget that and focus only on our problems and the wait. We have a bigger God, who is bigger than all of our biggest problems!!.
But what God says is – Psalm 62:5 – Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him (NIV). Our hope is always in Him and only Him. So, in any situation, hope is only in Him.
Don’t worry, God has got a plan and His plan will prevali. Amen. When I saw this (the new leaves), it was a revival for me and in faith, I wrote down the statement of what I was looking for, a change, in the midst of the pandemic. It was a very bold statement, but I wrote it down in prayer and committed to the Lord. Psalm 37:5 –Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass (NKJV). And I kept praying about it. With focus on God and looking up to Him alone.
When you feel you have hit rock bottom in your life and nothing more exists in life, there is only 1 way, to come up and hence, look up to God and He will pull you up, place you on a rock and give a song to sing!!.
It is not that always God will do what we want, becos, He knows what is best for us and when to give the best, just commit your ways to Him. God always has the best for us. This was a time of building up my faith like the fresh leaves. Faith can be summarised like this – FAITH – Forgetting All I Trust in Him – yes, we need to forget our situation, forget the impossibilities and trust in Him.
Something was definitely working inside the tree, from an impossible, worn our situation to life springing up….
While I was getting built up in my faith, covid 2nd wave struck a very young ex-team member of mine passed away, just couldn’t believe it, still. And after few months, I lost my father, not to covid, but to long illness. It was shattering. Yes, the situations weren’t looking like springing up to life, but commiting my life to Him, I was waiting in faith. Yes, God was working in springing up new life, like in this tree branch.
To be Continued…..Part 3/3
The Mango Tree – 1/3
Have you ever thought of your life as FINISHED, no more hope, gone case, nothing to look forward to, all that I was counting upon didnt come through!!! and on and on…..DISAPPOINTMENT, DEJECTION, DESPAIR!!
This can be in any situation of your life, it can be in health, career, relationship, studies, finances, anything….
The Mango Tree, is a 3 part series of what the Lord taught me, from this tree (in such a situation) and I’m sure that it will be of great encouragement to you. It is my testimony and also my article, which can be practically applied to your life also. Each part is short sized to consume easily.
There is a Mango tree in our house, of the neelam variety and a very faithful tree, yielding its fruit. The flowers come up quite early (even though neelam variety is the last in the season) and usually there are plenty of flowers, may be millions of them, but only few become fruits. Year after year, it produces the best fruits.
Then, one day, one of the main branches of the tree was cut and this is how it looked:
All branches gone, all leaves gone, no more flowers ofcourse. It seemed the end for the tree branch!. At the same time, I was going through a tough time in my career and was very dejected and waiting for some change to happen in my work place or a new job and the wait was on, without any end. One day, I saw this cut branch and realised that my situation in my career was like this – FINISHED!!. The situation looked like no hope for me. It looked like an end, with no where to go.
There was life in the tree, but the progress was cut short. Similarly, you may be in a situation, which looks liked a dead end, looks like no progress can be made, seems impossible to get over it, looks done and dusted without any hope. May be you are at cross roads, not knowing which direction to take.
And all of these was happening to me in the midst of covid and needless to add the stress around that, added to the situation.
To be Continued…..part 2/3
At Work – Sun & Springs
Isaiah 49:10 – They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
Is the workplace scorching you like the sun?
We all know that sun means heat. Many a times, it gets really hot at work (not meaning the temperature), about hot interactions with people, people turning up the heat on us in an unjustified manner.
Even though the sun is so far away, we can still feel the heat. In the same way, people can disrupt things in your personal life or work life, even if they are far away. So, what to do in such instances?. Look up to God and He will do 2 things – Guide you and Lead you to the springs of water, where it will be a continous replenishment from the heat (troubles, disruptions, politics, devious schemes) and without lack. It is not for us to find the springs, but for Him to Guide us and Lead us. And this will happen only if we look up to Him and not resort to ‘actions’ which we think, will protect us from the ‘heat’. And note that it is not about one spring, it is springs of water, which means the feed is plenty, to protect us.
Be nourished by the springs, to stay encouraged, refreshed and strong, even in the face of heat from adversity. Be blessed and be a blessing.