If you look behind the woman smiling, at the warzone that seems to surround her, one might think it odd that she seems to be happy.

With so much destruction and danger that she is sitting amidst, the woman would be more likely to have tears in her eyes, probably even fear and exhaustion… why doesn’t she? Is she oblivious to the war going on right behind where she sits? 

One might even feel irritated at her bright smile that is disrupting the atmosphere of chaos!

What on earth could make her so daggone chipper, in that awful situation? What could she possibly be thinking about or maybe observing, that could even begin to pull her mind away from that which is going on around her? 

With this picture in your mind, I want to share my next Note To Self, followed by a bit of a break down, as to what I think it means and why I chose it!

Note To Self #24

For the Lord is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Psalm 84:11

As I explain what I believe this verse means to ME, I want to now offer a bit of a different perspective of the woman, so as to give you both an example of external circumstances… and one of internal, or, better than that, circumstances of the heart and mind!

Now you still don’t have all the facts, but at least it is perhaps a start in understanding some of her mindset.

I believe that the verse from the book of Psalms means a great deal more than what one thinks when they first read it. Let’s break it down a bit…

“For the Lord is a sun and shield” makes me think that God is not only providing for my needs, but He is my Protector! 

“The Lord bestows favor and honor” just made everyone’s eyebrows go up, while thinking about the warzone around where the woman is sitting. I am currently sitting in the middle of things completely out of my control, and yet I am NOT sleeping on the ground, nor am I even hungry… I am at peace! We humans are the ones that put a monetary value on our successes or failures, Not God!

Here comes the pivotal part of the entire verse, as far as I can understand. ”No good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” Two things that everybody is now zeroed in on, are “no good thing” and “blameless”!

What good things, who has em, why can’t you see them in the picture, and where’s all MY good stuff? It may or may not have anything to do with money, honey, health, wealth, boys, toys, owning cars, being stars, travel the world, or getting the girl! You remember the saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”? What you or I consider to be a good thing, may have nothing to do with what “Good Thing” the woman is thinking on… what Her Joy is! It is so easy for us to assume we know what would be considered a good thing for another, but in truth, we DO NOT! 

To be “blameless” is a tough sell here, but stay with me, if you will, a bit further. Before you cut and run at the impossibility of trying to be perfect, in order to get good things, remember a very important thing… JESUS ALREADY DIED for our blame! 

So, what does this mean for us then? We are human, imperfect, selfish in nature, and prone to do things we know will certainly be blame worthy! 

This verse reminds me that God is with me, in all things, guiding me with the words left in His Book! He knows I am imperfect, but He also knows my heart, which is what this verse is all about, I believe. To have a heart that strives to be blameless, seeking to emulate the example left by Christ! I know that I shall never attain such blamelessness, but I will seek it nonetheless, as I believe God holds my heart in the palm of His Mighty Hand!

I put an additional verse down below. Just consider that today you get a two fer! Why? Because, as much as I talk and write all the time, moments such as these are written better than I could ever fully express!

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21

Sometimes daily encouragement comes from life itself! Psalm 84 helps remind us, not to look too far around or behind, during the storms we face in life… if we look up, we might see that while sitting in the eye of the storm, one can see straight up to Heaven itself! 

No matter the winds and rain, nor the crushing waves that crash against us, we are held in our Fathers hand… and though I am clearly not blameless, my heart belongs to the one who IS, so I am at peace!

Now I don’t even need the second picture to understand how the woman in the first photo can smile so sweetly amidst all the ugliness… she is looking up!