Trust God's Plans for You
The confidence the psalmist expresses here was most certainly a divine confidence. He did not say, “I have grace enough to work out my life . . . my faith is so steady that it will never stumble . . . my love is so warm it will never grow cold . . . my resolution is so firm that nothing can move it.” No, his dependence was solely on the Lord. If we indulge any confidence that is not grounded on the Rock of Ages, that confidence is worse than a dream—it will fall back on us and cover us with its ruins, to our confusion and sorrow. Everything nature weaves, time will unravel, to the eternal perplexity of those who trusted the material. The psalmist was wise, resting as he did on nothing short of the Lord’s work. It is the Lord who has begun a good work in us; it is He who continues it; and if He were not to finish, it would never be complete. If we try to insert a single stitch in our heavenly garments of righteousness, we are lost. But this is our confidence: the Lord who began will complete. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done or resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do. Unbelief whispers to us, “You will never be able to stand. Look at the evil in your heart—you can never conquer sin. Remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that torment you—you will certainly be lured and led astray by them.” Oh, yes, if left to our own strength we would undoubtedly perish. If we had to navigate our frail boats alone over such a rough a sea, we might as well give up the voyage in despair. But thanks be to God, He will work out his plans for our lives, and bring us to the desired harbor. There is no concern that we can’t take to God. And we can never be too confident when we trust in Him. C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening
In my life, at this moment, and especially the beginning months of 2021, peaceful understanding has not come as nearly as often as I would like.
Today's first post was certainly aimed, by God, towards a perishing world. This is towards us who've put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for Salvation.
As I said much of life right now I don't understand. I am indeed writing as prompted by the Spirit, but what's going on in the physical world with my Wife and I is chaos.
It's hard to understand what I cannot make sense of. It's hard to digest the choices of others as it impacts me, when I can't ask them why they have done what they did. I can't wrap my head around what I see people at work do in regards to what really amounts to worship of an employer. They practically live and breathe the company in such a way that they sacrificed their interests and their families.
Regardless of what I understand or don't I believe the Word of God. I am Christ's workmanship.
I may be in a phase of life much as Job's experience. Not knowing how or why. I am honestly not called to understand everything. I am called to obey God. If you are in Christ you are likewise called into obedience. You may not like that valley you are going through, much as I don't like the one that I am in, but we are there because Jesus says it's necessary. Psalms 23 is a much read Psalm. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will not fear. Your rod and your staff they comfort me. The rod and staff in the hands of the Shepherd were the weapons to deal with the life of the sheep and to keep the sheep safe.
I do agonize over decisions probably more than I ought to. We read of Peter walking on the water. We don't read of much the fact that he had to stop n put thought into obeying even after Jesus gave him the command to come. Thankfully his trust in what Jesus said outweighed his doubts. But until he felt a solid surface under his first foot those doubts prevailed.
Psalms 23 says specifically that we walk through that valley. Not crawl. Not skip. Not run. Not stumble. Not limp. We walk. We walk as we are lead.
I can pray a thousand prayers about something to happen or to not happen. It must be in accordance with the will of God for either. Peter, or all the Disciples would have floundered in the water if there had been no command from the Shepherd.
I am going to make it through whatever Jesus brings me to. I will arrive at Heaven when that moment comes at His calling. I am not promised to love everything that I will ever go through. I am to change how I react to it and focus on things above not on the things of this world.
I will be truthful and I won't lie that my thoughts have often kept me from sleep. I often am awake at hours that I should not due to an inability to shut down my brain.
My reactions to life can never change the will of God for me. Our prayers ought to still always be thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Isaiah jumped at the chance to go where sent after his sins were removed. We are to be willing to do that as well. It may or may not be where you envisioned being. You may or may not find anyone to support you in it. Imagine what isn't written in Scripture about their families reactions to giving up on everything to go and be Disciples of Jesus? We don't read of it but we read of the reactions of people, of Jesus's own family in their views. Obedience might even cost you your friends and family. That's what living for Jesus can do. A man's enemies will be members of his own house. The natural man cannot understand the things of God for they are foriegn to him, Scripture says.
As I have said for my working career. I am wherever God wants me to be. I will stay until He makes it impossible to do so. He won't make me compromise any part of my life in which it means violating His Word. Often obedience doesn't make sense. You won't be directed to sin in any way.
Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus. Don't expect the world to understand your happiness or your choices to obey. They aren't going to. Simple as that.
We may not find peace and rest in this life. We are at war along with the hosts of Heaven for the souls of people. Satan entices us to live as the world seeking all manner of comfort in order to get us to avoid seeking to be about the Father's business.
I would love to retire. Would love to achieve many things. Would love to not think about so many things that are in Christ selfish things. I am the one who is my own worst enemy. I am able to convince me of lies faster than Satan or all the demons at his calling.
God has work for you and I to do to reach others for Christ. He has left it to us to find and be taught by Godly men. It's a lie of Satan that women can be preachers. That's not who God called to be preachers. They cannot be Elders either. We are more than able to create what we want to believe when it doesn't fit with the Scriptures. When all who claim otherwise face Jesus they WILL be corrected.
We must be both being taught of God as well as live in obedience. When we learned to walk we trusted those who stood us up and gleefully encouraged that effort in us.
My biggest prayer is to be found obedient. Not to be found impressing people. Or to be what they want me to be. Or to go where they want me to go. Be prepared to disappoint others. As Joshua said As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment