Revere

Sleeping is not one of my best exercises and last night as I wrestled around and tossed and turned, I would say my prayers and include prayers for friends, family, country etc.  But one tagging thought that continued to emerge was to "revere God".  Revere God, revere God, revere God.  What did that have to do with anything?  And where was that thought even generated from.  Not a word I use, and not one I have even heard in conversation recently. 

But this morning, it continues to be the focus of my thoughts, and as I sit here writing I am pretty sure that God will guide my words so that the meaning is more transparent.  I have little sayings all over my house and as I sat to write this morning, there is one that hangs on the wall behind where I write that I know is there but seldom do I reread it.  It says: "Life is a balance between holding on and letting go." There are times when we have to make that decision on what to hold onto and what to let go of and there are times when that decision is often made for us, and we have to work through it or around it. But how does that work into the theme of revere God?  

So, I took a minute and considered what revering God means to me. It is counting God as awesome, and worthy of my highest regard.  It is respecting who he is and what he has done and continues to do.  It is admiration for my God whose love can out weigh and overcome and dismiss and forgive my shortcomings and mistakes and sins.  It is my admiration and adoration for the sovereign master of this universe.  My esteem for God is held high above my imaginations; for his decisions in spite of how they may differ from my meager earthly ones.  There also is a healthy fear in revering God, for his power and authority reign over all the earth. And I guess my last comment would be to revere God is to honor God, in all that I do, and all that I say.  

Now all that said, going back to holding on and letting go, it is God who helps us when these decisions are to be made.  No matter how earth shattering they may be or how menial they may seem at the time.  For when we revere God we are setting him up to be the controller of life, our life, and we are giving him the reigns in trust to help us crawl through or get over or go around the obstacles that are standing in the way of our peace and God’s purposes. He knows what we are holding tight to, and he knows too what we need to release. The bottom line is to hold tight to God for the security that we are so needy of and not depend on the world to feather our nests. God lavishes on us through his love, His blessings, provisions, strength and power if only we allow him the position that he truly desires.  But he will not bust in, he waits to be invited.  For there is a purpose for all things that God allows to happen and so many times that purpose is to bring us closer to him so that we become more dependent on his input and stronger and confident in our faithful following of His ways.  

I know that when I have intentionally revered God when circumstances before me are faltering it is then that God has a way of revealing himself and his presence in clarity. Sometimes it is a saying on the wall, or a word spoken from a stranger, a paragraph read in a book, a verse that jumps off a page in the bible, a lyric from a song,  or even a whisper in the consciousness of your soul. God knows how to reach you, he knows your line of communication, and we all respond to different means of communication.  His response generates  a heartfelt leap of courage and pursuit of trying to adapt to a Godly perspective instead of hanging tight to a worldly one.  Revering God is a choice, a moment by moment choice.  But when God is revered, it alters our focus from the spotlight being on us to the spotlight of Glory being on God. It is when we revere God, that we reap the "good will" of God.  

Revere is a word that you seldom hear and when I looked up the definition the word used to describe it was “venerate”:

to regard or treat with reverence; revere.

Origin: 

1615–25;  < Latin venerātus,  past participle of venerārī  to solicit the goodwill of(a god), worship, revere, verbal derivative of vener-,  stem of venus, presumably in its original sense “desire”; see Venus)

Next time you are wondering whether to hold on or let go, Let God help you with that decision. He has a “way" of seeing a much bigger picture than we do.   

Dear Lord, May my reverence for you be a choice that I make on a moment by moment basis.  Help me learn to turn my focus always to you before trying to absorb worldly obstructions.  For you are my loving God of glory, master of this universe, and the light that shines within my very soul.   Amen  

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!