January 25, 2011

What's Your Buttercup Verse?

"Stay close to the house and do not go in the woods," Robin's mom cautioned us.

Minutes later her words flew out of our five year old heads and we flew into the woods. In no time Robin's house was out of view and nothing looked familiar. The reality we were lost set in, just as drizzles and dusk fell. We decided to abide by the golden rule when lost: Stay where you are.

So Robin and I sat our cold, scared selves down. Shivering tears fell as we discussed the possibility we may never be found. We were Buttercup without her Westley in the dreaded Fire Swamp! A bit dramatic in hindsight, but a grim reality as a five year old.

We sat a spell until one of us remembered our memory verse from school: Psalm 23. We recited it. Once. Twice. Three times. Over and over. And we prayed for Jesus to rescue us from the woods.

I'm not sure how long we sat there, or how we made it back to Robin's (that was a loooong time ago for this ol' brain!). What I do remember is the utter peace that overcame us as we prayed and recited our memory verse. Calm chased the fright away. Hope filled the despair. Joyfulness resumed its rightful place. Our Westley had come and rescued us from the Fire Swamp!

After all these years, Psalm 23 is still one of my "Buttercup" verses when I'm afraid, crave peace, or need a reminder of who Jesus is. And that brings me to my main point--

Knowledge and confidence in who Christ is -and- in His Word, is key to replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. Somehow my little five year old self remembered and put this truth into practice better than my current self today.

Sometimes I forget He's still in the business of rescuing. When I forget, I am more likely to hop on those negative trains {of thought}. Maybe you struggle with this too? Perhaps our circumstances, relationships, weight, hope have changed or failed. The glory of it all is when all else changes, fails, is lost... Jesus has stayed the same, always prevails, and never leaves.

A beautiful place to start as a reminder of who Jesus is, is my friend Wendy Blight's blog. When you can, please hop over and soak in her utterly beautiful words {Warning: you may find yourself getting your praise on!}

Also, can I encourage you to choose and memorize your very own"Buttercup" verse... you know, one to recite when lost in the "Fire Swamp"? When you have yours, please share it with us! Thanks! I'm praying for y'all!

7 comments:

Eileen said...

Funny you should ask this...I recently posted my "buttercup verse" in a blog post. "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, because he who promised if faithful" Heb 10:23
I have found myself repeating this verse over and over lately.
Lovely post!

Heather - On the Road... said...

I have been reading as you have talked about getting off the train {of thoughts}. Its been very powerful for me, right where I am at right now.

The sentence that impacted me the most in this post was "when all else changes, fails, is lost... Jesus has stayed the same, always prevails, and never leaves."

I needed that tonight.

2 "Buttercup" verses:
"Fear not for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name, you are Mine." Is. 43:1

"Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise." Heb. 10:23 (NLT)

Love this post.
Thank you!
Heather

stephanie said...

I am loving the train theme!!! This has been one of my long time cries in hard times: Lamentations 4:55-57 "But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit. You heard me when I cried, "Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!" Yes, you came when I called, you told me, "Do not fear".

Kandi said...

Sam,

I love the getting off the train series you are doing, just loving it. I don't have a buttercup verse, but I am going go find one.

Fields of gold said...

thank you for your sweet comments! your 'buttercup' verses are beautiful and ones i may adopt myself! so glad y'all are along on this journey with me. big hugs!

Shanna said...

found this verse fairly recently and i LOVE it! it is such a comfort!

The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,He will quiet you with His love,He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17

Fields of gold said...

Shana, oooohhh, that is lovely!!! I'm going to remember that as I go to sleep tonight. What a joyful, beautiful, comforting verse! Thanks for sharing!