Tag: Psalms

Posted on

Troubles Will Come But…

Psalms 34:19

The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; (NIV)

Word Study

Righteous – H7404 צַדִּיק ṣaddîq, righteous, upright, just, innocent; in accordance with a proper (God’s) standard, and so implying innocence

Troubles – H8288 רָעָה3 rāʽâ3, bad, disaster, harm, trouble; by extension

Delivered – H5911 נָצַל nāṣal, to be saved, be delivered, be spared; to plunder, take away, tear away; to deliver, save, rescue; to be snatched; to strip off oneself

Thoughts…

The righteous are taken under the special protection of the Lord, yet they have their share of crosses in this world, and there are those that hate them. Both from the mercy of Heaven, and the malice of hell, the afflictions of the righteous must be many. But whatever troubles befall them, shall not hurt their souls, for God keeps them from sinning in troubles. No man is desolate, but he whom God has forsaken (Matthew Henery’s Concise Commentary).

Troubles come in so many different ways every day. Just because we become Christians doesn’t mean we are trouble-free. On the contrary, we seem to attract more trouble. God wants us to know we are not alone. He will see us through this life. He gave us hope to continue on today and the many tomorrows.

One day, we will be saved from ALL of the troubles here on Earth and be with Him in Heaven where no troubles exist.

Copyright © 2019 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Placed on the ROCK

Psalms 62:1-2

Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken (NIV)

Word Study

Rock – H7446 צוּר4 ṣûr4, rock; stone mass, rocky crag; a title of God, with a focus of stability, and possibly as a place of security and safety

Fortress – H5369 מִשְׂגָּב1 miśgāb1,  fortress, refuge, stronghold

Shaken – H4572 מוֹט1 môṭ1, to slip, fall, totter, stagger; to be shaken, be caused to move, be toppled; to bring down, to cause to fall; to be thoroughly shaken, be continually shaken

Thoughts…

Trust in God and Him alone. He is like a fortress in that He protects against all who are hostile. People will fail (the Hebrew text reads, “Humans are worthless [as an object of trust]; people are a lie”). Riches are no security (HCBC Commentary).

These verses always remind me of the song by Chumbawamba, “I get knocked down, but I get up again.” You see trials and troubles will come into our lives. We have a focus of stability, a place of security and stability to run. God provides us a fortress of solitude, like Superman. The best part is when the storms come, and they will, we will not slip, fall, totter, stagger, be shaken, be moved, be toppled, or be brought down. God is our rock and fortress. No storm can EVER take Him down. So go find some rest in Him and let the storm rage on.

Like a lighthouse standing tall in the middle of a raging storm, I will be firm because I am placed on the ROCK!

Copyright © 2019 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Home, Safe!

Psalms 46:10 Be still and know that I am God

Mom and I use to ride, walk and run long distances in the county surrounding our little town. No matter how far we went, on our way back we would eventually look up at the horizon and there would stand this group of trees we called Nessie. They looked just like the Loch Ness Monster rising up above the fields. We still had 2.5 miles to get home when we reached them, but every time we
did, we felt like we were already home. We were safe. Everything was going to be ok.

When we are going through something in life, we have something or rather someone we can look up and see on the horizon as well. God is just waiting for you to look up and know you are safe. Quit struggling, be still and know he has got you. You are home. You are safe. Everything is going to be alright.

Copyright © 2019 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.
Posted on

Who is driving the bus?

Psalms 29:11
The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

I went to a new doctor today.  After many years of seeing the same doctor, I had gotten quite comfortable with myself.  My doctor was a good friend of mine.  Unfortunately, he had to move his practice far enough away that I was no longer able to see him.

I have known about this move for six months.  I have been on this new doctor’s list for about 4 months or so, but I had not gone in to see him.  I hate meeting new doctors.

Now, I do realize no one likes to go to the doctors.  I mean we don’t usually wake up and say…gee I wonder what my doctor is doing today.  I think I should make an appointment to see him.

However, I HATE going to the doctor’s office and I REALLY HATE seeing a new doctor!!!!!!

I have quite a few issues.  If you have read my older blogs you know one of them is seizures.  I have not seen a neurologist in over 10 years because I gave up on them.  So, I really hate discussing that problem, but I was expecting it.  I also have two types of arthritis, asthma and Crohn’s disease. Again, I don’t like going over my history and what I am currently doing about them, but I was expecting it.

What I wasn’t expecting to discuss, my PTSD.

Before you ask, no my PTSD is not combat PTSD. I was not in the military. I wish my doctor would have asked that and just left it there. But NO! He wants to dive into what trauma in my life could have caused my PTSD.

Here is my theory on PTSD.  It is kind of like Fight Club (movie reference). The first rule about Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club!  Yep! That sums up my feeling on my PTSD! Unfortunately, this new doctor did not agree.

***INSERT MELTDOWN HERE***

Now you would think someone who is writing her dissertation on PTSD was comfortable with her own fight.  Well, most of the time I am.  Unfortunately, the nature of PTSD does not leave you in control.  You do not get to pick and choose how you will feel or respond. I have spoken in front of people before concerning my PTSD.  Today, however, was just a day that PTSD was driving the bus and it was racing out of control very quickly!

Flashbacks flooded my head.  I was crying the entire way home.  None of my mind techniques would work.  My service dog clung to me to try and make me feel safe and distract my mind.

I would love to tell you my first thoughts were some beautifully worded prayer that would tickle the ear of any Christian.

Nope!

I screamed at God! I screamed, “Why?”

I screamed, “How could you?”

I screamed, “Where are you?”

I screamed, “WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS!!!!”

What did I hear back? The Holy Spirit brought to my mind Psalms 29:11.   He said I am giving you strength because you are mine.  I am blessing you with peace.  Accept it. Sit back and let me take control of the bus!

My heart stopped racing.  My anger subsided.  Reality began to return.

Thank you, Lord, for your strength and peace. You were with during the trauma.  You held my hand and screamed and cried with me.  You still hold my hand as you fill me with your strength and peace.

My voice has been heard by many young men and women.  My story has been shared before.  I have been the voice of the voiceless.  I wish I would not have gone through my trauma, but I am glad that I survived. For if my journey can save even one person from giving in to the darkness, then I would gladly do it all over again.

ptsd_brain

Copyright © 2017 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Get Grooving to Get Satan Moving!

Psalms 18:3
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

Today I am struggling to find my gratitudes. It has been a particularly rough day. I am fighting an ear infection. It has spiked a fever in me which has led to seizure activity. That is not so unusual for me. Illness equals seizures.

What has been very vexing is that my body has chosen to play games. It seems to be doing the lovely childish game of “You’re going to seize, nope psych!” It hurts! Imagine a giant charlie horse from head to toe. My muscles are so tight and they won’t release until I have the seizure.

As of this writing, I am still waiting!

I find at times my spirit seizes up also. Satan can render me immovable. I find myself unable to pray or read my bible. I feel sick. In my experience, the only way out of this situation is through praise and worship.

Yes, praise is a weapon and it happens to be my weapon of choice when dealing with Satan’s tactics of oppression.

I would love to tell you that I immediately grab this weapon and wield it willfully and methodically, but I would be lying. As a matter of fact, I often have to force myself to start with a little humming. It comes out quite strained through gritted teeth, but soon I relax. My foot starts tapping and before you know it I am belting out some of my favorite tunes.

If you will pardon the expression, “I get my groove back!”

You see victory over dark powers comes through offering praise and affirming your hope in deliverance. Satan can’t stay around a soul praising and worshipping God. So call upon the LORD – who is worthy to be praised – so you will be delivered from your enemies!

If praise and worship are the bow, the songs must be the arrows.  What do you have stashed in your quiver?  What are some of the songs that really get you grooving and Satan moving?

2C917FF7-EE51-4166-98BB-D2EAC03EDAD7

Copyright © 2017 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Speak to Me

Psalm 29:11
The LORD will give strength to His people;
The LORD will bless His people with peace.

This verse has crossed my path several times today. In my experience, this means God has a reason for it. Something in my life either now or coming my way will be tied to this verse. God is trying to tell me something.

So now the question is why. Why this verse? Why now? What is going on in my life that needs a reminder from God. How am I going to apply this verse to my life today?

1. A friend had surgery today. I sent her this verse. I prayed God would send peace and strength to all who were involved in the surgery.

2. I have struggled with my depression the past couple of days. This morning I opened my email and this verse showed up as the key verse of a devotion. The author was battling her own demons and found comfort in this verse.

3. I was trying to work on my dissertation exam and getting very frustrated. I felt lost and I looked up and saw this verse. I had written it down on an index card months ago and had put it on my bulletin board.

Now, I know many people would say you can make a verse mean anything or apply to any situation. Some would even say it is a coincidence. You have the right to believe whatever you wish. It doesn’t matter because I find comfort in the verse. That is the only thing that matters.

I hope and pray that God speaks to you. I pray he sends you a verse of comfort in all your times of need. I pray God gives you strength and he blesses you with peace.

2909C908-CA30-4415-B618-7F39499C39AF

 

Copyright © 2017 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

What’s Your Bright Side

Psalms 106:1
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever.

It is Friday! So what is your bright side?

Here are my 5 for today:

1. My 6th-hour kiddos earned pizza from me. When I brought it in today they were so thankful. It was so nice to be thanked.

2. My husband who has been working so hard on my jewelry displays for my show tomorrow.

3. My friend Kathleen who I can’t wait to showcase all of our lovely jewelry with tomorrow. I know she is going to make my day fun and exciting.

4. My son made it home safe from an exciting business trip in Boston.

5. My favorite time of year is finally here and we are starting to see fall temperatures.

Autumn Trees

By Tabetha Frick

I passed a tree
In all its splendor
Its leaves it was
Beginning to surrender

Beautiful leaves
Of reds and browns
Beautiful leaves
Falling all around

I said dear tree
Please do not die
I simply slumber
Was its reply

Autumn is here
So I cannot keep
My beautiful colors
I plie in a heap

1B0EC250-DD69-4FD1-8B15-1C1CBFA61367

Thank you Lord for family, friends and beautiful seasons!

Copyright © 2017 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Forget Fighting to Find Focus

Psalms 62:1-2
I stand silently before the Lord, waiting for him to rescue me. For salvation comes from him alone. Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense and fortress. Why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come?

You know the old saying about doctors make the worst patients? Well let me tell you, teachers make the worse students.

Just stop in at any meeting and you will see all of us doing all those things that drive us crazy when our students do them to us. Yes, I am guilty of a few of the more popular ones like checking my email, texting and even the occasional social media posts.

Now I do try not to be rude. I really am listening. Many times my ADHD just gets the best of me. So, lately, I have been trying an old tactic in a very new way. I doodle and color!

When I was in school, setting through long lectures, and taking notes, I would doodle in the margins of my notebooks. I have shown many of the notebooks to my students to give them ideas of what to do when they are struggling to pay attention. Isn’t that funny? I mean I have to distract my mind in order to be able to concentrate.

Anyway, as for my new way, I have recently procured an iPad Pro and I started using an app called GoodNotes to take notes and do all of my lesson planning. Last night, I downloaded several coloring pictures onto it and low and behold I created a coloring book. Below is my masterpiece from today’s meetings.

BC673369-1100-458B-91EA-A4D5F5D0288E

Coloring didn’t distract me. It relaxed me enough to be able to concentrate.

Long meetings aren’t the only place I struggle to focus. I often find the more I struggle and fight to focus on my prayers, bible studies and even church services sometimes, the harder it is to concentrate. Then I decided one day to have a nice long chit-chat with God and I stumbled upon this verse:

Psalms 62:1-2 I stand silently before the Lord, waiting for him to rescue me. For salvation comes from him alone. Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense and fortress. Why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come?

Notice it doesn’t say, I fought, grappled, wrestled, scuffled, brawled, sparred, strove, or tried harder before the Lord. No, it says I stand silently and wait. It seemed so simple. I needed to quit fighting and start surrender.ing Then, I would find what I was looking for…God, my rock, my rescuer, defense, and fortress. Let him do the fighting. After all, salvation comes from him, not anything I can do.

I simply need to forget fighting to find focus!

163589DD-DA29-42E1-86C7-85C0E960AF4F

Copyright © 2017 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Keep Moving Forward

Psalms 37:24

If he stumbles, he’s not down for long; God has a grip on his hand. (The Message)

For those of you who don’t know, I am working on my Doctorate degree in Curriculum and Education. I have finished all of the classwork. Two weeks ago, I had to turn in a final exam that consisted of writing two papers. The next steps should be to propose my dissertation, write my dissertation, and then finally defend my dissertation. The problem is I have hit a snag. I did not pass the exams on my first try.

Now, the good news is they sent me the rubric with all of the evaluator’s comments. One of my papers lacked a connection between two parts. The evaluator said both halves were well developed but I need to work on connecting them. As for the second paper, I got lots of nice comments on it. The only thing I did wrong was not write enough.

I was disappointed when I first read the email. It is never easy to get a rejection. However, when I sat down and read the comments, God graced me with a heart prepared to receive critique and not read it as criticism. He had also been preparing me over the past several months during training I received through Proverbs 31 ministries on becoming a writer. One issue we discuss all of the time is how to accept rejection and move one.

I have stumbled, but I am not down for long; God has a grip on my hand. I know he has called me to this path and I am going to keep walking.

What does that look like now? Well, I have two weeks to make corrections and resubmit by exam. So, I will pray and put pen to paper and do what God has called me to do…WRITE!

I would welcome any extra prayers you can send my way.

Copyright © 2017 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Find My Way Back

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

There are days when you get pummeled from every side. Those are the days you stop and go, “Wait just a minute! Satan you are not going to get away with this.”

I also know Satan is not behind every bad thing that happens to us. First of all, he can’t be everywhere all of the time. Unlike God, he is not omnipresent. Can I please hear an AMEN to that one!

So, what about his little minions? No, I am not referring to those adorable little yellow guys. I, of course, am referring to demons. Yes, I am sure they are around and cause havoc, but they still aren’t behind every bush.

No, I believe sometimes bad things just happen. I also believe there are times when Satan is sitting back laughing because he doesn’t have to lift a finger. We humans are pretty good and creating horrible situations all on our own.

Let’s also get honest here. We can never say the devil made me do it. We always have choices.

I find my students complaining about rules and they inevitable say we have no choice. I remind them they always have choices. They can always choose to not follow the rules. We always have choices, we just have to weigh if the consequences are worth our choice.

Our daily lives are the same as my kiddos. We all have choices and consequences. Many times we just figure the consequences are worth it. We take the wrong path and we find ourselves in trouble. No, the devil did not make me do it. No, the demons didn’t set me up. Even if the last one was true, I was still in the final control. I made the decision. I chose my path.

Here is the rainbow. When we find ourselves lost, we know the direction to look. UP! We will find the great navigator just waiting for us to ask directions back to safety. He is waiting with his grace and loving warm arms wide open. He has the perfect directions to get you home and he will even light the path!

Copyright © 2017 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.