In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the statutes of your mouth. (Ps. 119:88)
THE POTATO WAS a blackened, shriveled, inedible pile of charcoal. It had been in the microwave for more than fifteen minutes. When discovered by the never-to-be chef de cuisine, black smoke was rolling from the microwave. The inside of the potato was to be white and fluffy. However, as the microwave’s heat energy moved through the molecules of the potato, it changed from cold to hot to burning and finally to charred. The heat of the microwave put so much stress on the potato that it turned into a dehydrated cinder.
The writer of this psalm was experiencing difficult times that physically and mentally challenged him. His adversaries were slandering him unfairly and treating him in an ungodly manner. These experiences were taking vitality from him, and his life was in peril. He was being subjected to a truly soul-wrenching period.
Through these life struggles, the writer relied on God’s love and grace. And, based on this, he begged God to sustain and revive him so he could pursue the real purpose of life—obeying God’s statutes. He was not asking God to deliver him, but to renew his heart so he could seek after God’s Word.
Even though life’s trials make us feel like a charred potato, our hope is in his renewed presence of love to strengthen us for obedience.
Ask God to renew your heart to seek his Word.
Gena Duncan lives with her husband in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the summer and Naples, Florida, in the winter. She authored They Walked with God (WestBow Press).
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
