Day 16

Fearless: Adapted from Psalm 27. Lord, You are my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? You are the defense of my life, whom shall I dread? When evildoers come upon me, they stumble and fall. Though a host encamps against me, my heart does not fear. Though war arises against me, in spite of this, I am confident. Only one thing I ask of You, Lord, that I seek and dwell in Your house all the days of my life, to experience Your peace as I meditate in Your temple. For in the day of trouble, You conceal me in Your sanctuary and hide me in Your secret place. You lift me up on a rock to raise my head above my enemies. I offer my praise with shouts of joy. I sing, yes, I sing praises to the Lord! Amen.

This is probably my most favorite psalm, and I pray verse 13 at least once but often times more frequently each day. That verse—“I believe that I shall see the goodness of God in the land of the living”—gives me the strength and the hope I need to be fearless. It is my assurance that God’s goodness is not a future event but a here and now happening. So many times when I have been working with people who are bigger than life—famous, intelligent, extremely talented—the list is endless, if I take the time to look into their eyes, I can see the spark of God’s image that is good, and seeking to frame whatever they are doing with grace. It is that subconscious internal design that God places in all of us that can get worn away if we develop a hardened veneer that protects us from embracing our own image of what God wants us to do, in favor of trying to please others. When I hear the words, “Only one thing I ask of You, Lord, that I seek and dwell in Your house all the days of my life, to experience Your peace as I meditate in Your temple,” I am moved to tears. God’s home is everywhere; we dwell there by honoring God above everything else wherever we are. Can we see the goodness of God that dwells in us?