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Listen while you read: "Love Lifted Me"1 (Lyrics) |
Psalm 40:2 – He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. (NLT)
The hymn writer, James Rowe, penned the hymn, Love lifted me. When I sing the first few words, "I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore," I am brought back to my childhood.
I was going home from my friend's house, which was a "country mile" from my home. In the summer, it was a short walk across the hay field. In winter and spring, I was forbidden to take the shortcut. One day, I decided to hop across the wet spring field really quickly! I would be home in a jiffy! Each step sucked at my boots, ugly mud grabbing me. One boot and sock disappeared into the frothy, brown earth. Another step landed me on my "kiester", bootless, completely defeated, and alone. I started to yell for my mom, but I was too far from home. I must have yelled wildly and loudly because my friend's two big brothers heard me. They came to my rescue and pulled me out of the mud and helped me to get home safely. I must have been a sight! My momma, who loved me, put me in a tub of warm water out in the backyard and cleaned all the mud away.
There are many kinds of muddy fields in life: times when we feel hopeless, dejected, sad, discouraged, miserable, disheartened, despairing, despondent, defeated, and feeling like giving up because there is no solution, no way out of our dilemma. In such situations that are out of our control, we can't do it ourselves, but God can. We must never give up, for "everything is possible with God" (Mark 10:27b NLT). Paul advises us to "be thankful in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18a NLT), because giving thanks to God demonstrates our trust in Him, and our faith actually releases His power to help us.
I cannot sing the hymn Love lifted me without remembering that boot-sucking dilemma. But every time I see a muddy spring field, I am reminded how I still desperately need to be rescued and how, when I call on my Saviour, He hears and sets me free!
Prayer: Lord, as we look at the many pits of despair, the muddy fields, the areas of discouragement, we thank You that You are there to set our feet on solid ground. We thank You that not only do You set our feet on solid ground, but Your care is ongoing. You steady us as we walk along. May each one of us experience that all-encompassing lifting, love, and care of a gentle, compassionate God. Amen.
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Beautiful.
May it be so Carol.
Thank you for sharing – what a meaningful analogy.
Heart warming story; it gave me a lift! Keep writing!
Thank you for a very interesting devotional. I hope to see more of your writings. God Bless.
Amen Carol, a good illustration. We had mud like that in Saskatchewan.
Blessings.
God truly does love us enough to “lift us” even when we are the authors of our own troubles.
Blessings.
Carol, thank you for sharing your learning experience with us and the lesson in love your Mother taught through her bathtub welcoming. Blessings.
Greetings and Blessings from just ninety minutes away! You write like a person I would like to meet, and chat about “Muddy fields”. If you ever feel the same, let me know.
Beautiful analogy of mud and the despair which can drag us down in life.
I like that hymn too “Love lifted me”.
Blessings.
This is such a great story, Carol. I think we can all relate to it with something similar from our childhood. Thank you for sharing it in your devotional this morning.
Blessings.
Thank you, Carol, for this most timely reminder. There are so many things in life that can drag us down and hold us there. Isn’t it great that our “big brother”, Christ, can pull us out of our ‘stuck-ness’!
What a beautiful message to read at the start of my day. In all the pitfalls of my life it has been so true, that “love lifted me”. I love to play and sing that hymn. Thank you for reminding me of God’s daily, steady, loving presence.
Thank you, Carol, for your sharing, for God’s word as He speaks to you and through you, and for your heartfelt prayer!
Blessings,
(BC)
Thank you Carol for your very precious Devotional.
It is so wonderful to know that He not only hears our cry but is also there to help us in our need.
Every Blessing on your day.
Dear Carol,
A beautiful “clean from the guilt of sin” devotional. We thank our Lord that we are cleansed, forever to remain clean, by the once-for-all and on-going cleansing by the blood of the Lamb.
Let us continue to praise our Lord.
I also had an experience falling through the creek ice while taking a short-cut from school.
A mile away from home on a cold spring day, hypothermia set in. Falling into the house, I barely remember the warm bath my mom gave me, then tucking me into a warm bed.
God has spared us. Thank Him for His goodness and mercy.
How familiar this misadventure sounds. You were lucky your mother didn’t apply the birch switch along with the sudsy bath. I have one question for you. Did you give thanks as you sat in the muddy field, scared and yelling for help?
What wonderful life lessons our loving Heavenly Father teaches us as children through seemingly simple methods, and they last all of our lives. Praise His Name.
Carol,
I’m sure there are a few people who have had similar mud stories in their life, the true version of actually being stuck in mud.
I remember as a child, being at a friend’s house, who had a big hole from a construction project, filled with mud/water. He pushed me in. I went home crying.
(CA)
Hi Carol,
Good words in your devotional today. There are indeed times when we get bogged down in the cares of the world, but then we know that we serve a risen Saviour. He’s in the world today, we know that He is living, whatever people say. We see His hand of mercy, we hear His voice of cheer, and just the time we need Him He’s always near.
Thank you for writing.
Greetings Carol,
You painted a vivid picture with your words this morning and reminded me of a similar story about a muddy field my grandfather once shared.
Isn’t it wonderful how God uses our own environment to tenderly teach us His lessons and then they remain as constant reminders to keep us safe.
Thanks for the delightful lesson.
Blessings.
Dear Carol, Thank you ever so much Carol. What a wonderful analogy!! I liked this so very much that I took a big bold (for me) step and forwarded it on to our 5 adult children…(only one of them to my knowledge is a professing Christian). It took me back to the day when our 4 year old son did not come home with his siblings for supper. (it was winter and they had all been out playing with a group of neighbouring kids.) We all set out to search for him, and finally heard him calling. He was knee deep in snow in his friend’s back yard and couldn’t get out without pulling his boots off… still seems to get himself caught at times in knee deep snow of life. Thank you for this devotional Carol. May God bless you.
Thank you for writing. Getting stuck in mud must have been quite the experience and of course scary. Thanks be to God, Who lifts us out of our various circumstances. Sometimes it’s not right away, but when we look back, we see that He did.
Dear Carol,
I want to thank you for this devotional. We don’t sing those old Gospel songs at our church any more and Love Lifted Me is one of my very favourites because of the blessing it gives me. I am 86 and I have a lovely spinet piano which I enjoy playing. When I am anxious and having a difficult period to go through, I find it quietens my spirit to just sit down and play the hymns that have stood me on solid ground through my life. I praise my Lord.
Thank you again and please keep writing as the Lord inspires you.
(B.C.)