Remind Yourself...

 (08/10/11)

The first day of school… for parents it is a time of joy.  We are no longer spending our every waking moments trying to find something for our children to do.  Once again, we are back to our regularly scheduled programming of packing lunches, helping with homework, playing chauffeur, and making sure everyone gets fed and in bed on time.  For children, however, ‘back to school’ brings a myriad of different emotions: sadness (summer is over), excitement (I get to see my friends again), and for some, like my daughter, anxiety.  Today Zoe started 2^nd grade at a new school.  Not only is the school new to her, it has more than twice the population of her old school.  As we were getting ready this morning, I heard my daughter say, “I am brave.  I can do this.”  As we were walking into school, I heard her say, “I am excited about school, and I can do this.”  Wow!  Where did my seven year old daughter learn how to encourage herself?  And as I listened to her put these positive thoughts into her brain, I was reminded of King David.  He had the uncanny ability to encourage himself even in the darkest of times.  Let’s take Psalm 64 as an example.  David begins by complaining to God about his enemies; but by verse seven, he is encouraging himself in the Lord… reminding himself who God is, and that He will take care of him and his enemies. “But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be struck down.  He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.  All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done.  Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; let all the upright in heart praise him!” (Psalm 64:7-10, NIV)  David was most likely afraid and angry in the face of his enemies, yet he knew what to focus on in order to bring the peace of God back into his heart.  We can do the same.  We can take a lesson from David (and even my fair Zoe).  When life looks a little grim, let’s keep positive and remind ourselves of who God is and who we are in Christ.  Here are a few scriptures to help us along the way:

Philippians 4:13

Philippians 4:19 

Romans 8:37 

Psalm 118:6 

Psalm 62:1-2 

Psalm 57:3 

Psalm 46:1-7