I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
Your ways, God, are holy.
What god is as great as our God?
You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
For Reflection:
I don’t know about you, but I love to look back at my day, playing scenarios over in my brain. How I dealt with certain situations at work… how specific conversations transpired… how a particularly hard workout went or felt. Usually this look back ends up being a fairly short and subjective reflection and I come away feeling good about myself or with insight that will help me to do better or deal with a situation differently in the future. Self reflection can be an excellent tool for personal growth. Paragraph break
David reminds us from a place of anguish to remember the deeds of the Lord. He cries out, “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?”, immediately followed by the promise, “I will consider all your works and meditate on your mighty deeds.” What might it look like to reflect on my day and instead of asking, “what did I do well” or “what could I have done better”, say instead, “where was the Lord working today?” or “where did I sense His presence?” The same day; a different lens. How might my experience reflecting back on my day change if instead of looking backwards striving for accolades or personal growth, I attempted to reflect through the lens of the creator. Would God see my day the same way I subjectively see it? Would I have more or less grace for the conversations that had taken place? Would the reflection on my workout be about logging a best time on my run or would I perhaps instead be pulled into a place of gratitude for having the ability to move and exercise and use the body I’ve been given? Paragraph break
Just as David remembered the deeds of the Lord, I too want to remember His miraculous works in my life. And while reflection, through multiple lenses, is helpful to seeing and pinpointing His presence in and around us each day, I think it’s also important to not only reflect back, but stay aware in each moment. By doing so, noticing the moments throughout the day and attributing them to the creator, I can sit down peacefully at night and reflect through a lens of informed awareness with perhaps more grace and less judgment for myself. Reflecting on moments, recognizing His presence in these moments and remembering how gracious, loving and ever-present He is.
Let us pray:
Dear God, thank you for being present in our moments. Help me to reflect you in all that I do and say and to look for you throughout my days. Open my eyes to see your work all around me and to recognize your movement and intentionality. Help me to remember to look at situations through more than just my own lens. I close with a prayer from Psalm 19, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Amen.
If I were to reflect on my day through God's eyes what might I notice?