by David Brenneman
"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord." Psalms 27:13-14.
Getting ahead of Jesus is never a good thing...never a good idea.
We often don't consider the consequences of running ahead of our parents as a child. Unseen dangers lurk that time and experience have shown our parents what to be wary of.
Getting ahead of Jesus is the same. Pressuring Jesus to answer a prayer in our way isn't a good thing either. It's not our will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Within the limits of our understanding we don't get the whole picture of what Jesus is doing. I can remember back in my youth where more often than not if we were out some place that my Dad had me put my finger in one of his belt loops. This was to keep me in pace with him.
In Biblical times disciples were to so closely follow their Master that the blessing was said "may you be covered in the dust of your Master".
I do get various kinds of advice concerning looking for a job. What has been a learning experience for me is how drastically the employment landscape has changed in even the last 10 years. What used to be normal for applying or even with resumes doesn't work today. Add in the hidden ways people are vetted by artificial intelligence these days. And how indeed age is discriminated against simply by a non-response. Prayers indeed go up concerning wisdom in navigating this new employment process. Gone are the days of blanket applications. You can’t just stop by and have a conversation with most places. They have everything go through a human resource process that might not even be in the same building.
Waiting on the Lord. This passage is the verse of the day today.
This passage has been what the last several months have been about for me. Praying and pursuing while waiting on the Lord.
Many decades ago I got ahead of Jesus. That is something that I highly recommend you do not do. The life that came to be for me was incredibly difficult and the depths of the loneliness were extremely difficult to bear. So to my many sources of advice I hope you understand that I have gone through that excruciating process once to get back around to where Jesus wanted me...I won't do that again.
Don't get ahead of Jesus. Keep pace with Jesus. What He says is what you do. If He says to lie down by still waters, stay there until He says it's time to get back up. If He says it's time to get back up, then do so.
"and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God." Colossians 2:19.
"I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth." 1 Corinthians 3:6.
God causes the growth in the lives of Believers. He plans my ways and directs my steps. Proverbs 16:9.
In your life too this is to be the case my Dear Reader. We do what we are called to do as unto the Lord. With all our heart. But don't assume or presume to go down roads He hasn't approved for us to go down. Saul did this and lost the Kingdom. Many kings of the Old Testament did this and decades later the nation was still reaping the consequences of it.
Run, walk, stand with Jesus. What He says that's what we do.
Presumption with regards to the will of God for us will get us into a world of trouble. Every pile of manure ends the same when stepped in. Jesus knows the ways around all of them. 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. Proverbs 3:5-6.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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