Heavenly Hammocks

I am swinging here, and a thought comes to me. I am swinging here in the middle of a Belizean jungle, I am in Belize. I never believed something like this would happen to me. I am amazed that I have been given a moment such as this. Picture this: I am swinging in a hammock, a 5 minute walk away from my house on the base, no one is around, I am alone, listening to the sounds of the jungle and my worship cd. The sun is going down, but is still high enough to blind my eyes and heat my skin. I am reflecting, just soaking up the sun. I cannot believe I have this opportunity to just sit, to relax in the jungle, while everyone else in the world is leading pretty standard lives. I am completely at peace except for I am a little freaked out by the jungle noises. And to clear things up, I am still on the YWAM base, the jungle surrounds the base, I am not sitting somewhere in the jungle. Ahem, just a clarification. There is a verse that one of the worship leaders read in church yesterday. I read it, and have been trying my best to reflect on it. Psalm 73:21-28. I am not going to type it all out, but these are the parts that I really like. When my heart was grieved, when my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant... Yet I am always with you; you hold me by your right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory... And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever... But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell all of your deeds. I love that I can count on God to counsel me. That everyday I can turn to him, and receive guidance for the day, anytime, anything, God is going to help me. I love the way they put it – will take me into glory. It sounds so amazing doesn't it? I am relaxing in this hammock thinking that its close to heaven on earth and yet, then theres that thought. He will take me into glory. It sounds amazing. I wonder if there are hammocks in heaven, probably, they are quite nice. I am not gonna lie. I love the line – the earth has nothing I desire besides you. I really want to get to the place where I am just so in love with God, that I wake up ready to just talk with Him, to receive what he has for me that day, to get that portion of love. I want God to be my portion forever. I want to desire him alone. I love the way the writer puts it, so casual and yet so powerful, as for me, it is good to be near God. It seems to me that they are saying really, I don't care what works for you, this is good for me. I want this, I need this. This is what I want, I want to be near God, and to not care whether or not people follow me, just to make the statement as for me, I want to be near God. After all that the Lord has given me, he is still my refuge. Even though I turn to him and receive that counsel, sometimes there are rocks too big for me to budge, situations to overwhelming for me to handle, and when that day comes, I can just simply hide under his wing, he will defend me against all things, I just need to run to him. Finally it says, I will tell all of your deeds. I love it. It's amazing. It is like once I have received all these things from God my response will be to tell others. No longer caring about whether or not people agree or understand, no longer caring about people's opinions of me, just going out and blessing God by telling the world what he has done. And maybe someone else will be strengthened, maybe someone else will be encouraged because when their heart was grieved, when their spirit was embittered, when they were ignorant, God was and still is with them. And if they know this, they can take comfort in his counsel, they can begin to take refuge in him, to enjoy being near, and one day, maybe they too will be taken into glory, just like me. I praise God, for the sun has set on my devotional time, but I have been blessed. I pray that all who read this will be blessed as well. Peace.