by David Brenneman
"Wait patiently for the LORD.
PSALM 27:14 NLT
It may seem like it should be easy to wait. But it is a lesson the Christian soldier doesn't learn without years of teaching. Marching and double-time marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still. There are perplexing times when the most willing spirit, anxiously desiring to serve the Lord, doesn't know what role to play. What should that person do? Lose hope? Shrink back in cowardice, or rush forward in presumption? No-he or she should simply wait. But wait in prayer. Call on God and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty and plead His promise of assistance. When the dilemma is a choice between one duty or another, it is good to be as humble as a child, waiting with simplicity of soul on the Lord. It will surely be well with us when we feel and know our own folly, and are heartily
willing to be guided by God's will. But wait in faith. Express your ironclad confidence in Him, for unfaithful, untrusting waiting is an insult to the Lord. Believe that, even if He keeps you waiting late into the night, He will come at the right time; the vision will come and will not delay (Habakkuk 2:3).
Wait in quiet patience, not rebelling because you are under affliction but
blessing God for it. Never murmur against the second cause, like the children of Israel did against Moses; never wish you could go back to your old world again but accept the case as it is-put it as it stands, simply and with your
whole heart, without any self-will, into the hands of your covenant God. Say to Him, "Now, Lord, not my will, but yours be done. I don't know what to do-I am brought to the breaking point, but I will wait until you divide the waters or drive back my enemies. I will wait, if you keep me here for many days, for my heart is fixed on you alone. My spirit waits for you in the full conviction so that you will be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong
tower." Experiencing God Day-by-Day Devotional Blackaby and Blackaby.
It's been a lesson for me that isn't quite over yet. The waiting and the learning in this season of my life. Add to this that we read the knowledge of Psalm 23, Proverbs 3:5-8.
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalms 23:1-6.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones." Proverbs 3:5-8.
What to do when you don't know what to do? Keep on keeping on.
My eyes have to stay on Jesus.
My recent physical problems...look to Jesus.
My need to know what to do and when to do...look to Jesus.
My need to make sense of things...look to Jesus.
My battles in my mind...look to Jesus.
It's appearance of complexity is just that...what things appear to be.
He makes me lie down beside still waters. He restores my soul. He owes me no explanation other than these things are being worked out for my good because I love Him and He promised.
Dear Reader...be assured that our walk in this world...isn't in hopeless abandon. We who are in Christ have all hope. We are promised these necessary things by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are promised both that our needs would be met, our lives would have persecutions, troubles if you will, and that He would never leave us or forsake us. We are not promised a full understanding of the why's behind what we experience. We are to fight the good fight, finish the race.
We are to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus. Stop at that one. Do you really realize how easy it is for Satan's minions to convince you that you don't need to ask Jesus if something or someone is good or bad in your life? We judge what's coming or what thoughts we entertain as good by our own standards and thereby give heartily agreement to compromises.
Our understanding gets us into a world of trouble.
Our understanding causes us to not wait upon the Lord.
Our understanding gives really good excuses for spending time watching a game rather than intimacy with Jesus in the Word of God. No, you won't catch up later. No, you don't deserve those few hours to satisfy you. Not when the Spirit quietly asks for a moment of your time and that's when He wants to meet you.
Are you really wanting to make Jesus happy or you happy apart from Jesus? If it's you then you are leading your life and not Jesus.
Looking at this post as a whole...rub your spiritual eyes. Are you walking with Jesus or are you trying to skate through the life you've been given? Are you dedicated to a life in Christ, using the spiritual gifts you were given or are you leaving them on a shelf while you go and do what you want to?
Are you a compromiser? Have you allowed things to infiltrate your mind, having convinced yourself that there's nothing wrong?
Are you patiently waiting on the Lord when life happens or do you get to a point n rush ahead of Jesus? My Dear Reader...been there done that...DON'T do it! It took over a decade to bring my heart back around and it almost ended in suicide. Thinking at that low point in my life that I was utterly worthless to Jesus for anything, having seen my wretched condition more clearly. Jesus reached down into my abyss and pulled me out. Set me back on my feet. He reassured me that I was His.
You may be thinking that your life has stalled, that its not going anywhere. That you don't want what's happening and don't know how to move forward. Pray. And then pray and then pray some more. For me, back then, I figured I had 3 choices. End it all, go on living the nightmare I was living, or fully give Jesus free reign in my life to do whatever was necessary. That was in May of 1999. 26 years later you're reading the results.
Call out to Jesus. Tell Him what's on your mind and heart that's troubling you. As we read, plead His promises.
We all aren't going to grow the same in Christ. We all aren't going to be the next Billy Graham, John MacArthur, Charles Stanley or any other of the great men of God of our day. We are to be who the Spirit says we are, where we are. We aren't to compare ourselves to others in the faith because we are at different places in growing in Christ.
Use what you were given in Christ that's yours to nurture and use. Keep your commitment to Jesus first. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit. Love your neighbor as yourself. Stand firm.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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