Daily Delight

Please read Psalm 139 as preparation for today's devotional☺️

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The steady rain hadn’t let up all day and I realized that I had to either scrap my plan for a long run, or lace up anyway and keep my race training on track. I decided to go for it, accepting that my normal running gear could handle a soaking, except for my cellphone and wireless earbuds. Of course, this meant running for an hour without my usual playlist of cheesy, empowering pop songs. During this time of slogging through empty, wet streets, my mind was finally quiet. It’s rare for me to spend much time in the silence, but the forced break gave me a moment to actually face some inner uncertainties over which I had carefully built layers of distractions to ignore.

Maybe it’s just me, but why is it so much easier to fill silence with music or Netflix instead of bringing our tough questions to Jesus? When I was younger, I memorized Psalm 139, and it’s always been my favorite chapter of the Bible. I am usually drawn to the parts that speak of how God knows me, but recently I thought about verses 7-12 which speak of His presence. The Psalmist exclaims that he can’t go anywhere without encountering God: not to the heavens, not the midst of the oceans, not even the grave. Darkness is not dark, the night doesn’t exist. 

I love that it simply says, “You are there.” It doesn’t say, “If I make my bed in the depths, you dive down, grab my ear and wrangle me back to where I should be.” God isn’t fighting for our attention. He’s not punishing us for not choosing the simple thing of laying our burdens at His feet. Instead, He promises to be there - no matter how far we run, no matter how deep we sink. All we need to do is open our arms and let Him hold us. 

I’m not sure what you’re going through, but I do know that He is with you - through your pain, through your illness, through your apathy. I hope you understand that the God who knit you together in your mother’s womb knows you so thoroughly that you can’t run from Him and loves you so much that He stays with you, even when you do.

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Photo:@jaydaiye

	Amanda Hertzler
	Amanda lives in Wyomissing, PA with her husband and new beaglier puppy. When she is not working at her job in Human Resources, you could probably find her either hiding with a book and a large cup of tea, or dancing around her house singing whatever song happens to be in her head in that moment. She also enjoys running, baking, and hanging out with the crazy teens who actually trust her to be one of their youth group leaders. Recently, Amanda has been learning more about what it means to pursue the true identity of who she is in Christ, rather than live under fear, inadequacy, or perfectionism. She's a bit of a slow learner, but thankfully there's lots of grace for that. She loves connecting with new people so please reach out with comments or questions.