Psalm 119:114, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.” “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Storing up God’s word is not earning a status or position to handle life’s crises and pressures. It is not a formula or a transaction to have more peace and calmness. But the process of remembering and meditating on Scripture teaches us to be open handed to receive His grace, to have an open heart to His love. When I begin thinking that focusing on Scripture is a transaction, I miss His grace and mercy. Anticipating His grace is the opposite of anxiety, countering my guilt of not measuring up. It counters my attempt to grab all the insight I can. It is opposite of my entitlement desire to have it all because I deserve it.
“Forgetting the awesome and glorious One who made it all and holds it all together by the sheer power of his magnificent will, will always insert me into the center. This means that no story will be more important to me than my story. I will ask no bigger question than the question of how I am doing. I will have no bigger concern than my satisfaction and comfort. I will ask life to serve me, to submit to my interests, and to deliver whatever I demand. This viewpoint will guarantee me a life of huge disappointment. And not only that, it is also an insane way to live. I am not the center of all things. The world will not do my sovereign bidding. God will not offer his awesome throne to me. Awe of self, worship of self, underlies every form of self-destructive living.” - Paul David Tripp, Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do
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