Whose your cheerleader? (Psalm 27:14)

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 27:14 (TM)

Stay with God! Take heart. Don't quit. I'll say it again: Stay with God.

STORY:

Dr. John Trent tells the story of a couple in West Texas. The wife, Betty, was very athletic, and had been a cheerleader and very popular in high school. Now she is 55 and has come to Dr. Trent for medical help. She hurts a lot and her joints are beginning to swell. 



After examining her, he tells her that she has rheumatoid arthritis and there is no cure. She sits crying for a moment as she considers her future. Then her tall, leathery-faced West Texas cowboy husband walked into the room and sat down beside her. 



Betty said, "Rusty, you need to get a divorce. I can’t be a wife to you anymore. It hurts every time I move, and I can’t even hold your hand. For your own sake you need a woman who can really love you. Why don’t you get a divorce, and go your way and I’ll go mine?"



Dr. Trent said, "Rusty sat down on that stool beside her. He looked her in the eye and said, `Betty, can you smile?’ `It doesn’t hurt to smile.’ He said, `That’s all I need, just a smile. Well,’ he said, `Really, I don’t even need a smile. All I need is you.’"

OBSERVATION:

Everybody needs a cheerleader. Each of us needs somebody who is going to be in our corner. It sure helps when we know that there’s someone who has our back. Betty had Rusty. How about you?

As these the words of 27^th Psalm floated my soul this morning there was an overriding sense that the Psalmist was his own cheerleader at this particular point in his journey. It seems that he was trying to convince himself that the best course of action was to “stay with God.” At least he is being honest with himself. “Stay with God” and everything is going to turn out okay … even though it seems like everything is going in the other direction.

It is as if we are listening in on his personal pep rally. Ever been there? Most of us have been. Needing to boost our spirit, to pickup the pieces and move on we sit down and try to convince ourselves that it is going to get better tomorrow. “Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya tomorrow. You’re always a day away!” is a personal pep rally. “Take heart. Don’t quit,” catches me every time.

Wouldn’t it be great at those particular moments if we had our own personal cheerleader? Well, the Psalmist arrives at the realization that God is his cheerleader. When the chips are down and nothing is going right … God is there! He’s got your back. Nothing else really matters. He’s our “Rusty”. “All I need is you.”

PRAYER:

Pick us up today because we need picking up. Lift our spirit because it is very low this morning. Bring sunshine into our cloudy life. As the rain falls on our spirit confirm for us once again that the sun will come out again tomorrow!