Taste and See

Psalm 34:8

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

This past week as been a crazy ride.
I went to Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend. It was so awesome to see the HUGEness of God out there. I especially felt it standing next to a waterfall that I almost fell into.

Fourth of July rolled around and most of it was spent studying for our final for Intro to Christian Theology. Mind you when I say most of it I mean...3 hours. Then we headed to Fort Collins City Park with a group of funny and cool people and we waited for some fireworks. We sang "A Whole New World" and found Waldo. The fireworks were pretty good. and we ended the night shortly after so we could wake up for our test.

Our test woke us up a little early. I did well and to celebrate we had some women's time. We went over to Group's head quarters in Loveland, CO. It was gorgeous there and we had a pasta bar and talked about "tasting and seeing" all the blessings of God. This was easy for me at this point. I was close to the mountains, I had good laughs the night before and did well on my final exam. We were given thanks books so that we could jot down whenever we were thankful for the things God has given us. We then painted nails, ate s'mores, and made earrings. It was during the last thing I mentioned that I started to feel some wear. Frustration and impatience bubbling to the surface.

The next day was the day I was kind of dreading the whole time. Finances. Well, in short, I was frustrated anxious and overwhelmed. Through the course of the evening, and encouraging conversations with my parents, I was able to come to peace with the whole situation after much tears and some creative planning from my Dad. Lifegroup wrapped up the day with talking about how "total dependence doesn't happen without weakness." And if you know me, you know I hate hate HATE weakness. It was great to talk it out with those women and be vulnerable to people I got to know so deeply so quickly. Well as I was thinking about this day today I looked back to Psalm 34 where the whole "tasting and seeing" idea came up. It states before verse 8 that:

"I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them."

I smile reading this again because I know that in my humanness I abandoned the idea of how big my God is and didn't seek him when I was fearful. But here it says that God delivered David from his fears. He can hear me too. He can deliver, save me, and encamp around me. I think my favorite part of this is when it says that those who look to him are radiant. I want to be radiant. I want to seek the Lord first when I freak out instead of let the idea of money crush me (that is always the topic that causes me to freak out the most btw - so if you ever want to scare me bring it up.)

And finally yesterday, I realized that all this time with people is fun and stimulating, I hadn't had time to just be (by myself) in a while. That's where the earlier frustration was bubbling from. So I watched a movie and returned to this. "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." I was so busy trying to taste and see God that I forgot to take refuge entirely.

So I'm to the weekend again. I'm making conscious steps to take me time and Jesus time while not isolating myself. It's a fragile balance but a good one to rebuild. And all this so that I can taste, see, and seek refuge in God and enjoy the creation and happening around me.

It's crazy how one verse can reflect a whole week.