I ALMOST WENT BROKE — THIS IS HOW I MADE IT THROUGH
‘The Lord is close to all whose hearts are crushed by pain, and he is always ready to restore the repentant one.’ Psalms 34:18
If you read the story about Rob Bell few days ago — this is the kind of story where I need to ask myself — “why is this included in the Bible?”
If you read Psalms 34 it’s pretty f’d up. David writes this after he pretended to be insane to escape an enemy King. The Bible literally says, “he foamed at the mouth.” So, not only is David a giant killer — he’s on that Oscar level with Joaquin Phoenix.
David continues in this chapter to write about God being the master savior as he writes this. ‘Even when bad things happen to the good and godly ones, the Lord will save them and not let them be defeated by what they face.’ Psalms 34:19
These are big words and big statements. These are the type of statements where people will say — “yah, well, my life got pretty f’d up and God didn’t deliver me.”
We all want 100% guarantees and unfortunately, life doesn’t always work that way. However, it doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. We can find inspiration in anything. We can find faith anywhere. Some may read this Psalm and say it’s impossible but then read a story about the PillowMan or Michael Jordan and say — yah, that’s possible.
Yesterday I referenced a book I was reading called — Primary Greatness. One of the key takeaways from the book addresses humility. Here’s what it says, “If you are humble enough to recognize where you can improve and courageous enough to undertake the work of improvement, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a person of integrity.”
If someone read this part of the book — they may say, “yah, that’s inspiring — I can do that.” What’s funny is, this is LITERALLY the same thing David is writing about in Psalms. The only difference is that God is part of the equation in Psalms and not in Primary Greatness.
As for me, I’ve been crushed many times. One of the toughest times was back when I was job hunting in Australia. My wife and I and our two children had moved there with high hopes. I figured I could land a job quick and get up and running.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work that way or that fast. All of us were staying in a bedroom in my father in laws house. It was a great house — but when you have four people in one room — it’s tight. When you’re used to have your own house and space — it’s tough. Plus, I was searching for a job. I had no money coming in.
I felt stuck and humiliated. I thought to myself, “did I just move our family out here and we’re going to go broke?”
The biggest and best thing I did for our family was continue to humble myself. I helped other people when I could. I asked tons of questions to guys who were way ahead of me. I constantly searched for ways to learn — even to the point of teaching myself how to photograph and edit videos.
We also made sure we were in church as much as possible. I prayed a lot and this verse was inspiring to me. This verse in Psalms gave me courage. When you are in those moments — find what gives you courage and repeat it every hour of the day. Every f’n hour.
Eventually — I started my own business and I really felt like God delivered me. It felt like a total miracle. What looked like a test I was going to fail — turned into a testimony I shared with friends and business owners.
So again, I ask — why does David include this Psalm?
I’d say its’ like Chicken Soup for the Soul. It’s one of those stories that is truly inspiring. I think for David he looked at the whole situation and was like, “wow, that was a miracle. I should have died. I didn’t. If God can do it for me, he can do it for you.”
Whatever you’re going through — keep digging for that inspiration. You may not get the encouragement from others — and that’s ok. Keep yourself motivated by putting courage into yourself. It’s like a gas tank — you gotta keep it full for the journey.
