The Psalm 103 Strategy That Can Help You Master Your Misconceptions

The other day, I got busy changing our bedsheets. Although I have no sight, it’s an easy task except for the fitted sheets.

The challenge is matching the right corners. And this particular time, no matter how much I turned the sheet, stretched, pulled and yanked, the corners just wouldn’t reach to fit around the mattress.

Could they have shrunk in the dryer? Or did the mattress grow in size? I don’t give up easily. So, I hopped on the bed to give more force to the effort.

While on my knees, to my surprise, I felt a large lump (we blind folks have to do everything by feel). In the middle of the bed was a blanket, all bunched up. No wonder the sheet didn’t fit; the big lump of blanket kept it from lying flat to fit around the corners.

Have You Done That?

Not with bedsheets, but in life. You try to make it all fit, but something gets in the way. Something elusive but real prevents life from being nice and smooth.

That something is the lump called misconceptions or mistaken expectations. We carry them with us. With a spring in our step, we move forward, whistling an upbeat tune, carrying our notion of how life should be. How it should go. And what it should include. We expect the right person to make us whole. The right job to bring security. The right doctor to bring a cure. The right counselor to help take our guilt away.

But when none of that happens, life isn’t smooth. We’re undone, unsettled and incomplete.

5 Questions We Need to Answer

The only way we can remove the lump of misconceptions is when we answer these five questions found in Psalm 103:2-5.

1. Who forgives all your sins? We live under the lump of condemnation, unaware of what to do with our guilt, unless we know that we know God Almighty forgives, forgets and cleanses our sin.
2. And [who] heals all your diseases? The lump of worry disappears when we know God has the power, the supernatural way and the ability to heal, restore and renew.
3. Who redeems your life from the pit? Self-pity is gone when we know God has His redeeming, never-failing love ready, available and abundant enough to pull us out of that pit.
4. And crowns you with love and compassion? In a dark world, filled with violence, cruelty and uncertainty, His mercy and compassion lift us to a safe place of security.
5. Who satisfies your desires with good things? When we try to fulfill and satisfy our own desires, often the result brings discontentment and grief. But when God satisfies those desires, they’re good, noble and pure.

The Challenge

Here’s my challenge to you and myself too: Sit back, take a deep breath and commit to remove that lump of misconception of what we think life should be. Instead, we relish in the truth that God’s power wrapped in love removed guilt by cleansing our sins through Jesus. We boldly claim the fresh confidence we now have, knowing He healed us. We wear that crown of His mercy and compassion that has our name on it. And we declare those desires sitting in the waiting room of our heart to be fulfilled. And then, with security in our step, we sing the victory that’s already ours.

Let’s Pray

Father, help me remove the lump of my own feeble misconception of what life should be. I ask for wisdom to recognize that You have the only way to make my life fit your plans, wonderfully good. In Jesus’ name.

What is the lump you need to remove? {eoa}

Janet Perez Eckles is an international speaker and the author of four books. She has helped thousands conquer fear and bring back joy.

This article originally appeared at janetperezeckles.com.