My Heart is Steadfast . . .

"My heart is steadfast, O God, 

my heart is steadfast!"

Psalm 57:7

Debbi, Margie, Annette, 'Lena
c. 1962

If you read my last post, you are aware that my sister, Annette, passed away two weeks ago. I have just returned from Texas where we said our final goodbyes to her, this side of Heaven. My eldest sister, Debbi, shared her thoughts this morning in Another Empty Chair. This time last year we were missing our Mom and Aunt who had died earlier in the year due to a car accident. We were just adjusting to their loss, and here we have another. 

As Debbi said, we would not call her back for anything! She is pain free, healed and whole, dancing in the streets of Heaven. But our hearts are heavy. There are many who miss her.

This morning as I began to get busy with preparing for Thanksgiving at my home, I opened up my computer and began to read all the "thankful" posts on Facebook. It's not that I don't have much to be thankful for, because I do. I do not take for granted my husband, Mark, who I have been married to for almost 30 years, my children and other family members, friends who have been the lifter of my hands when I am to weak to continue, and my God who is faithful beyond measure. But my heart was heavy this morning. And as I read those comments on Facebook, I began to feel ungrateful.

But just moments later, I was reminded of Psalm 57:7. If you read the verses before, the writer is in desperate circumstances. He is being pursued by an enemy, surrounded by ravenous beasts, with traps all around him, waiting for him to fall prey to one of them. But then the writer says, 

"My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast!"

The word steadfast literally means "fixed in place",and indicates undeviating constancy. As I pondered this verse, I realized the Lord Himself is steadfast:

The faithfulness of the Lord, 

the love of the Lord, 

the grace of the Lord, 

the mercy of the Lord, 

the  Lord Himself is . . . 

Steadfast. 

God is constant 

He is consistent

He never wavers

He never deviates

From who or what He is . . .

Steadfast

I was created in His image; 

His Spirit dwells in me. 

It is up to me to be faithful, 

to show His love to others, 

to extend mercy and grace, 

and to be . . .

Steadfast.

So, in the midst of grief, sorrow and loss; 

in the midst of trials and tribulations, 

in the midst of whatever I have to face tomorrow . . .

My heart is steadfast!

The writer of Psalm 57 concludes with:

"For Your steadfast love is great to the heavens,

Your faithfulness to the clouds."

Psalm 57:10 (ESV)