When I Feel Overwhelmed and Under Attack by Tischa van de Reep
Oh hey, short on time? No worries! I'd love to join you on your commute or daily walk/run, or shoot, even while you take care of that to-do list. We can't let these things get in the way of this friendship. It's just starting to get good! Click below to listen to the blogcast.
Have you roasted any s'mores this Summer? How do you like your marshmallows? (Also, is it weird that I have to intentionally pronounce marshmallows with a long "a" to spell it correctly? Tell me I'm not the only one who does this...)
I like the just barely golden kind, a "medium rare" marshmallow if you will. If it catches fire, it's well done and too done for me. I'll pass every time.
This reminds me of the last time Will and I made s'mores with a couple friends of ours. We had the giant square marshmallows, those made specifically to fit on your graham cracker - for the most equally balanced, well-covered ooey gooey goodness. He loaded the marshmallows on the sticks and as our friend began explaining the rules of a game we were about to play, he set the sticks down so it was just ever so slightly getting some action. He turned around to listen to the rules and next thing you know... yep, you can guess what happened...
Wellllllll done roasted marshmallows, like no white visible. I assumed these would be trashed in favor of a second try, but I bit my tongue to hold back my laughter as I watched our friend slide both of the now black, square bricks off the sticks and onto his unbroken graham cracker. It was a s'more sub and it was gone within just a few minutes!
What happened between the peacefully roasting s'more and the well done, almost thrown out s'more? Someone forgot to watch. This week, my friend, Tischa van de Reep is joining us for Psalm 5 and helping us see how watching is not just for s'mores but even more important when we feel overwhelmed and under attack.
Tischa van de Reep is a Christian writer and speaker. She is also the founder of The Well Communicators and The Branch Women's Gathering - a monthly community Bible study. Born in Trinidad, Tischa is married to Harald, who is from The Netherlands. They live in The Woodlands, Texas with their two teenaged sons - Julian and Aidan.
Tischa speaks openly about how Jesus pulled her from the pit and established her faith. She is a mental health and autism mom, which further fuels her passion for women to find strength in Christ. Her work in ministry extends from homeless women in Houston, to expat wives in Budapest, Hungary, to rural villagers in Malawi, Africa, and women across the US.
In Psalm 5, David feels overwhelmed and under attack, but emerges in spiritual triumph! Can we get there too?
At the start, David pleaded with God to hear him three times. Then, knowing the nature of God as he did so well, David made a statement of truth and settled on a strategy – Psalm 5:3:
O LORD, in the morning You hear my voice; in the morning I direct my prayer to you and watch.
David knew the truth that God heard him. He hears our voices too. But do we believe that? So often we come before God with our fears and concerns, our wants and needs. We get down on our knees and lay them at His feet. And when we get up, we take everything we prayed for back up with us again. David’s strategy was different.
He directed his prayer to God and then watched.
What if we prayed and then watched to see what He would do, knowing that "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28)? David prayed and watched. Can we?
I think about Abraham and Sarah who were promised offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky, only they were very old, and Sarah had always been barren. Instead of trusting God and watching, as David did, Sarah offered her servant, Hagar, to Abraham to bear him a child in her place. The thing is, Hagar was never part of God’s plan for their offspring. God’s supernatural intervention was what they should have been watching for.
In our own lives, when we watch for what the Lord would do as David did, there needs to be three things:
To watch, we must be able to SEE! We need to have spiritual eyes and insight. God’s Word improves our spiritual vision as we learn to look at things from His divine viewpoint. One of the psalmists asks God, “Open my eyes, that I may see wonderful things in Your Law.” (Psalm 119:18). In Ephesians 1:18, Paul prays that we would have the eyes of our hearts enlightened so that we may know what the hope is to which we have been called.
To watch requires a good view. The higher we are, the better the view. Having a heavenly perspective helps us to not become trapped in the anguish of our circumstances, but to be able to see things from above where our problems below are now much smaller, and we see God for who He is, bigger than all of it.
To watch means us facing the right direction. We must be turned to where the Lord is to watch Him work or else we’ll miss it completely. The first thing that Jesus said when starting His ministry was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17). Repentance is simply a turning from a life of sin to a life obedient to God.
Turning the spiritual eyes of our hearts towards Jesus and rising above for a better view so that we can see Him at work in our lives allows us to pray with the faith that David had.
My friend, rest assured, God hears your prayer. Now watch and see what He will do.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your faithfulness over my life. I love You and I trust You to do what only You can, and I watch with joyful expectation. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.
Now, It's Your Turn!
Before opening God's Word, take a moment to pray and ask God to meet you there. Then...
Read Psalm 5 a couple times. Highlight what stands out to you.
Circle verbs or specific wording you notice.
Then, write down a bullet point takeaway based on this. "I-statements" help make this personal. Think of this as a challenge statement.
When I feel overwhelmed and under attack, I will remember and mirror David's strategy: to pray and watch God work on my behalf.
Then, jot down a question or two to think about today. You don't have to have the answer to this question now. And yield to the Holy Spirit - prayerfully ask God to search your heart and lead you to more truth and grow your faith through the Holy Spirit.
Do I have spiritual eyes to see this situation beyond just the physical circumstance? Am I looking from a heavenly perspective at this situation or do I need to take on a higher viewpoint? Am I facing in the right direction or is there something in my heart that is not pleasing to God I need to confess and repent of?
Again, we don't have to be Bible scholars and talk only in the thou's and art's of King James version to read this book. ...because when we pray before we read, we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is with us, guiding and teaching us.
Praise God for this!
And praise God for refreshment as we are intentional to spend a summer in the Psalms together, for if we want His truth to ever be on our lips, it must first be planted in our hearts.
Our strength grows as we rely on strength from above. Our joy grows as we see God transforming us from the inside out. Our peace grows as we spend time in God's presence, and we find rest when we intentionally seek the Lord first in our lives, for the Lord is ever our portion.
The good life, well it starts with a good day. Then another. Then another. Let's choose to live #TheGoodDay one day at a time.
Additionally, you can connect with Tischa at her website or The Well Communicators, Instagram or Facebook.
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