More Than Still

I was rooting through some old papers the other day and happened to come across a copy of the poem that I'd partially referenced in my last post.  I'm not a big one for poetry, but sometimes it has a way of saying what I wish I could put into words.  Although it was especially meaningful for me when I first came across it several months ago, it still has a lot of impact on me as I re-read it today.  

In the struggle to be still, we have the ability to be GLAD. God knows our hearts, He knows our anxious thoughts.  He says, "I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have known.  I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them."  Isaiah 42:16 

The Stolen Song

I was thinking tonight about the things that I let my mind dwell on. Much of the time it’s a lot of nothing…or too much of what definitely isn't true, right, pure or lovely (Philippines 4:8).  Why is it that I can think of nothing quite easily, but it seems to be an effort to focus my mind on Christ, my Saviour, the One who has given me everything?  I'd like to be more intentional about what I think on throughout the day.  Sometimes I’ll literally force myself to sing even if I’m not in the mood.  Singing does something...somehow just saying words out loud does something to my heart.  It reminds me of the things I’m grateful for and what an incredible God I serve.  It reminds me of His truths and encourages me through what others have experienced and are singing about.  It makes me focus on the words and mean them.  And yet I often let my song get stolen by apathy, laziness, pointless conversations in my head and paying waaaaay too much attention to my feelings. 

I remember several months ago at a time of deep hurt in my life I would try and sing and couldn’t even make it through the first line without breaking down.  Then slowly over the months I would keep trying and eventually I’d make it through an entire verse before the tears came.  Then when God brought resolution to this very difficult situation I felt like I could sing and never stop!  Life is like that, and we won’t always have a song that we feel like singing.  Psalm 40:1-3 says,

“I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.  He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.  He has put a new song in my mouth – praise to our God.” 

Whatever way you can praise God today, do it.  It may be “without the sound of tuneful strings,” as someone once wrote, but take some time to sing!     

The Truth About Truth

Truth is a funny thing.  I'm sure I've spent more moments than I'd like to admit believing that truth is truth only to the extent that I feel it.  Once I'm convinced in my mind that something is true, then I'll place my full trust in it but until then I'll continue on being uncertain and uncommitted.  Obviously truth doesn't work that way, but have you ever felt like that?  

Truth is truth.  Truth is truth always.  Truth is truth no matter how I'm feeling, how much I believe in it, or how much it contradicts what I might be experiencing.  I was reading through a few Psalms yesterday and wrote down some of the truths and promises that stuck out to me.  They're all from Psalm 32,33 & 34 but I won't include the verse references as I think it's amazing enough reading to look through yourself.  

* "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.  I will guide you with My eye."  

*"The word of the LORD is right and all His work is done in truth."

*"By the word of the LORD the heavens were made...for He spoke, and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast."

*"The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.  The counsel of the LORD stands forever...blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD."  

*"The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men...He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works."

*"The eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine."

*"The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him."

*"The righteous cry out and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles."

*"Those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing."  

These are God's promises to us.  Will you believe them today?  

Confessions of an Analyzer

I find it hard to turn my mind off sometimes.  Some days it's so busy thinking and analyzing and pulling things apart and trying to put them back together that I drive myself to exhaustion.  I figure that if I try and rationalize things enough I'll eventually come to some sort of conclusion but I only get more confused and frustrated.  And then I wonder where God is and why He's not producing results.  Does that mean that He's waiting for me to make the move?  If so, why can't I figure out what He's saying?  Am I not listening hard enough?  Have I missed the "clues"?  What am I supposed to do??

I was talking with a friend the other day and we were discussing what it meant to be still before the Lord.  Psalm 37:7 tells us to "rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him."  My friend's definition of being still was to "hold your peace, stop talking, stand still."  STOP TALKING!  Stop trying to rationalize and analyze and figure everything out because chances are you can't.  "In quietness and trust is your strength..." (Isaiah 30:15)  Trust means placing our faith in God when we don't get it.  And trying to "get it" only ruins the peace that comes from resting in His perfect ability to work out our situation in ways that we could never imagine.  Nothing is impossible for our God.  And what He does is good.  

""I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD...Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage." (Psalm 27:13-14) 

Do not despair! 

Oh, how great the temptation is to despair at times!  Our soul becomes depressed and disheartened, and our faith staggers under the severe trials and testing that come into our lives, especially during times of bereavement and suffering.  We may come to the place where we say, "I cannot bear this any longer.  I am close to despair under these circumstances God has allowed.  He tells me not to despair, but what am I supposed to do when I am at this point?"
     What have you done in the past when you felt weak physically?  You could not do anything.  You ceased from doing.  In your weakness, you leaned on the shoulder of a strong loved one.  You leaned completely on someone else and rested, becoming still, and trusting in another's strength.
     It is the same when you are tempted to despair under spiritual afflictions.  He knows that your strength and courage have run away [and] He says sweetly, "Be still, and know that I am God." (Ps. 46:10)
     Hudson Taylor was so weak and feeble in the last few months of his life that he told a friend, "I am so weak I cannot write.  I cannot read my Bible.  I cannot even pray. All I can do is lie still in the arms of God as a little child, trusting Him."  This wonderful man of God, who had great spiritual power, came to the point of physical suffering and weakness where all he could do was lie still and trust.
     That is all God asks of you as His dear child.  When you become weak through the fierce fires of affliction, do not try to "be strong." Just "be still, and know that [He is] God."  And know that He will sustain you and bring you through the fire." (from Streams in the Desert, May 10) 

"It is good that one should hope and wait quietly."  (Lamentations 3:26)

God's Purpose Or Mine?

I'm so grateful for God's perfect timing in using others to encourage/challenge/teach me.  I was sent the following devotional in an email from a friend tonight.  God's purpose is the process!

From My Utmost for His Highest

God’s Purpose or Mine?

07

28

2013

He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side . . . —Mark 6:45

We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.

What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself. What He desires for me is that I see “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “Him walking on the sea” (Mark 6:49). It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God.

God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.

God’s purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.

Strawberry Shakes & Tears

Grief n.  intense sorrow: great sadness, especially as a result of a death
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I had one of those laughing/sobbing moments this morning while making breakfast.  I had a delicious banana/spinach/strawberry/yogurt shake going in the blender, when all of a sudden my spoon fell in and my shake exploded.  All over me, my cupboards, my floor and my 9’ kitchen ceiling.  At first I started laughing out loud…and then I started sobbing.  It was just one of those mornings when I was trying to hold it together and a strawberry shake made me lose it.  During those times in our life when our world seems consumed with grieving, sometimes the simple event of an exploded shake is the reality check we need to remind us that life does go on and there is still laughter despite the tears.  

Grief comes in all forms and for all reasons, but it's true to definition that it's usually the result of a death.  Death of a loved one, death of a dream, or even death of how we perceive something/someone ("God, why would You do that?").

When I’m grieving, truth is often the first thing to go out the window.  My feelings feel more real than what God has to offer me.  How many times in a day do I say, “God I know You’re stronger, You’re faithful, You created and balance the universe, You are full of compassion, You bottle and number our tears, You work for good, Your power is incomparably great…BUT.” Sometimes things just hurt too much and those ‘buts’ come so quickly…and I don’t realize that what I’m really saying is, “God, I know You’re strong, but this is too much.  I know You can do a lot, but can you really do this?” More bluntly, we’re saying, “God, I don’t trust You can do this.” 

I’m challenged by Elijah in 1 Kings 18 where he’s confronting the children of Israel and the prophets of Baal asking, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”  Two altars were made to test whose God would answer with fire and consume the altar.  It would have been enough to leave the altar as it was, but Elijah had his altar doused with water three times.  In essence he was saying, “God I believe you are SO big and SO powerful, that I’m going to make this extra difficult for You.”  When we can’t fathom how our situation could ever be resolved, we’re in the right spot.  God’s ways are unfathomable. 

  

“Oh, how slow grief is to come to understanding!  Grief is ignorant and does not even care to learn. When the grieving women “were sitting there opposite the tomb,” [Matt. 27:61] did they see the triumph of the next two thousand years?  Did they see anything except that Christ was gone?”  (Streams in the Desert, April 25)

Victory in grief comes when we consciously choose to look at our overwhelming, impossible, sad, heartbreaking, lonely situation and say, “God, I trust that You are who You say You are and You can do what You say You can do.” 

“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” ~ Isaiah 26:3 

Stay your mind on Him and thank Him that He knows the path you’re walking and is paving your way in the wilderness and He WILL direct your path.  Let’s stop faltering between two opinions.  The LORD is God…trust Him.   

“Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have broken rejoice.”   

~ Psalm 51:8