What keeps you going? When difficult times come. When there are problems that are bigger than you. It is because of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed. We can't do it without Him, not individually, congregationally, familially, or nationally. We are totally dependant on Him for every breath we take as Paul said on Mars' Hill, In Him we live and move and have our being. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths.
Lamentations 3:19-26 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. (20) My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. (21) This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. (22) It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. (23) They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (24) The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. (25) The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. (26) It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
What keeps you going? When difficult times come. When there are problems that are bigger than you. It is because of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed. We can't do it without Him, not individually, congregationally, familially, or nationally. We are totally dependant on Him for every breath we take as Paul said on Mars' Hill, In Him we live and move and have our being. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths.
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“Commit thy way unto Jehovah; Trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass.” (Psalms 37:5) It seems to me that each child I give birth to, is a learning experience in trusting my God. With my firstborn child, I learned that I trusted too much in an earthly caretaker. She betrayed my trust in her and things went badly. My second pregnancy, I had to lean more on the Lord to trust that things would go better that time. They did. My third pregnancy was a surprise and I wasn't taking the proper nutrition to have a healthy baby...or so worldly wisdom told me. Again, I had to trust in God for a healthy baby.
So, here we find ourselves again with a surprise pregnancy, but this time I had been taking good vitamins. However, surprise, the ultrasound shows not one, but two babies. Do I need the Lord again? Oh, yes, more than ever! Does trust mean that God will answer every prayer in the manner in which we want? I'd have to say no because I see so many wonderful, Christian people who suffer with loss of loved ones. I know of a dear couple – he being an elder in the Lord's church – who raised 4 faithful children. The youngest happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and took a bullet to the brain. He wasn't a soldier, just a college student caught in the middle of a shootout at a gas station. If we look at the example of Job, we see that the righteous will suffer. Job had a life full of blessings. Was God the source of the sufferings? No, God allowed it, yes, but the being behind the calamity in Job's life was Satan. Why does God allow Satan to do what he does? In the case of Job, God said to Satan, “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” (Job 1:8) God called him 'perfect'. What wonderful praise from God! May we all strive to have our Father give us this honor! To me, it seems as though God was teaching Satan a lesson. God said, here's my servant, and he's a great servant. But Satan said, “Aw, he's just righteous because you bless him so. If you took that away, he wouldn't be so righteous.” Satan didn't believe a word God said! So, God told Satan, “Go ahead, take away whatever you wish, but don't touch Job.” As the situation progressed, Satan eventually had to attack Job's health as well. Through it all, Job remained faithful to God. So what is the lesson we can learn? Nothing in this world is as important as our soul. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37) We pray that our loved ones will be obedient and we do what we can to teach them, but ultimately we can only be responsible for our own soul. So, no matter what happens around me, it is just me and my God, forever and ever and I will remain faithful to Him. “Do you trust Him with your life?”
Recently, my husband and I watched the new movie, “Fireproof.” In this movie, one of the characters, asked another, “Do you trust Him with your life?” This question struck a chord with me. Often, we say that we’ve given our life over to God, or we pray about a problem, but we still fret and worry about it, anyway. Let’s look at scripture and find what God says about giving him our cares: "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." (Psalms 37:3-7, KJV) First, he says by trusting in him and doing good, we have a place to live and food to eat. He will provide for our needs, if we will let him! Sometimes we make things harder on ourselves because we are searching for our own way around a problem. God has the answers, if we’ll just go to him for them our lives will become easier. Second, he says to delight in him. Isn’t it difficult in the midst of trials to delight or be joyous? God says to delight in him and he will bless you with the desires of your heart. But, as James cautions us, let us examine our desires to be sure they are within his will (James 4:3). Third, commit your way unto the Lord means everything we do should be for him. Not only that, but “trust” in him. There’s that word again that we often have trouble with! But, God says to do this and he shall bring it to pass. Your righteousness will be shown for all to see. Fourth, here is another thing that we struggle with. We must rest and be patient on God. He works on his own time, but he does work. And then he reminds us to focus on ourselves. Don’t worry about the wicked that prosper, but we should do all things that bring him glory. God continually reminds us that he is greater. I am reminded of the great painters who painted wonderful masterpieces. But, if you looked closely at one spot in the painting, however, all you would see were tiny dots. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations and our way is blurry. We need to look at the Master Painter because he knows the big picture and he will help to guide our steps. (First published at Forthright) |