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I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6
Have you ever been in a situation where you were waiting anxiously for something to happen? Perhaps you were waiting for God to answer a prayer you had for a loved one who was sick? Waiting for the doctor’s report. Waiting for word on a loved one in the military. Waiting for word from the bank about a loan, or if you were going to keep you house. Waiting for your employer to decide who keeps their job and who becomes unemployed. Waiting for the judge to decide the sentence.
Waiting. It can be agonizing. Waiting can become so much a part of you that controls your thoughts, your sleep, your eating habits, your moods. Waiting can affect your relationships, your outlook on life, and your opinion of God, yourself or others.
I remember when I was going through a terribly stressful time in my life. Everything I had counted on was gone. I was at the mercy of a legal system I didn’t trust. I had no money, no job and, perhaps, no future.
Sleep was fitful at best. I’d go to bed very, very late (or should I say early in the morning) and wake up from a fitful sleep just a few hours later. The lack of sleep caused fatigue which made the problems seem worse. My physical, emotional and spiritual health was failing.
The one thing I looked forward to every morning was seeing the sunrise. Light seemed to ease the fear and the pain. Being able to see what was around me gave me comfort in the midst of hopelessness. I hated the darkness of night.
I would imagine that is the word picture the Psalmist wants us to have in Psalm 130 when he likens waiting to the work of the night watchman. When the Bible repeats a phrase or a word it does so for effect, to show importance. Darkness was scary. Darkness was dangerous.
Today we have security lights and motion detectors. In his day there were torches and, sometimes moonlight. Daylight brought the assurance that you made it through the night without enemy attack. In the daylight you could see the enemy approach and arm yourselves. In the dark you were really at your enemy’s mercy.
That’s often how we feel when we are waiting expectantly, hopefully, earnestly for God to make something happen in our lives. The foundation on which we wait has to be trust. Trust in God’s character. Trust in His word. Trust in His promises. We do what we can to resolve some problems, but there are some where we just trust God for His word.
Your Heavenly Father loves you. He’s promised to take care of you. Everything He brings your way, the good and the bad, is given you in order to draw you closer to Him and trust His promises. Hard as it is to wait, waiting is easier when we really learn to rely on God to see us through the darkness and into the dawn.
PRAYER: Father God. I confess that I’m a lousy wait-er. I want answers and I want them now. I get impatient and don’t understand why you won’t answer me. Right now I’m in a very dark place in my life. I have issues with my relationships, my finances, my health, my faith. I need to see some light. Empower me by your Spirit to endure the darkness and draw close to you. Keep me safe until the dawn. In Jesus name, Amen.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:8-9
It isn’t during the good times, but the times we wander in the wilderness that we should focus our praise towards God.
That may seem like a strange statement. For it is during our wilderness wanderings that we want to focus more on our pain. It is during those times of loneliness in the desert places that we want to cry out for justice. It is during those times of failure that we tend to allow the feelings of despair to overshadow the fact that we are indeed children of the King. It is during those times when we are treated unfairly that our demands for justice scream loudly.
One of the reasons we tend to turn inward when times are tough is because the enemy wants us to believe that we are in control of our own destiny and that we know what is best for ourselves, our loved ones and our enemies. But the reality is we can only really look back and learn from our mistakes. Looking forward does us no good because at our best we can’t even see one second ahead!
When we are in the wilderness, W When we are alone, beaten up and nursing wounds of our own failures or the attacks of others, or when those we love are being treated unfairly, the only thing that can help is to look to the one constant in life: God. Times change. Circumstances change. Health changes. Relationships change. He is the same today as he was yesterday and He’ll be the same tomorrow.
Not only does our God never change. His love for us never changes either. You may be going through something right now that makes you confused, angry or frustrated. You may doubt God’s ability to work, or your ability to cope. Those are the times He says come to me. Those are the times when He asks us to rest in His love and feel his healing and soothing touch on our lives.
You may be in a wilderness now. You may be too angry, hurt or frustrated to see the wisdom of God’s plan. You may be questioning your ability to go on. That’s okay. He’ll wait for you. Just remember that He is standing nearby waiting for your call.
PRAYER: What an awesome God you are! During this time of hopelessness and wandering I continue to be amazed that you would be so patient with me to love me, comfort me and patiently wait for me to come to you. Forgive me for thinking my way is best and doubting you. Help me to see how you have worked in the past in my life to bring me to you. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to trust you with my today, tomorrow and beyond. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2
Imagine what it must have been like for Abram to receive a message from Jehovah God that he was going to be leaving his homeland. This wasn’t going to be a temporary trip. He wasn’t able to just go down to the corner rental spot and get a truck. He wouldn’t be coming back. Ever. He was leaving his home, his extended family, friends and life as he’d known it since he was born.
We are never told why God chose Abraham. Elsewhere God tells the Israelites that He didn’t choose them for any of the reasons we might choose to make someone great. They weren’t the strongest people. They weren’t the most numerous people. God seldom has reasons for doing what He does. He’s God, He knows best, and even when we don’t like it, His way usually works out best.
At any rate, there was something that God saw in Abraham that moved him to call Abraham away from everything that was familiar to him, his family, his home and his country in order to make him great.
God had fantastic plans for Abraham, but He couldn’t do His work in Abraham’s life with Abraham where he was. God had to take Abraham out of his comfort zone and place him in a place which forced Abraham to rely completely on God. Abraham had to be willing to give up all of his dreams to attain the dreams God had for him.
Not only would Abraham be blessed by giving up everything to follow God, his life would also be a blessing to others. Our Heavenly Father brings things into our lives to prepare us for greater things and in order to show others His great love and compassion.
Too often we ask God to bless us but expect Him to do so in our time frame and within our comfort zone. But that’s not the way it works. He needs to take us where we are, prepare us and then place us where we will be the most effective workers for Him.
As we progress through this journey we call life, remember that your Heavenly Father, the God of the Universe has your destination already picked out. There may be times when the choices you make cause you to waiver from the path. You may have made decisions that have consequences that follow you daily. Through Jesus Christ He can forgive you of the choices and use you for His glory and to bless others.
Abraham, David, Samuel and many other Bible characters made mistakes in their lives. God was able to bless them and use their life experiences to bless others. If you want to be blessed by God and be a blessing to others expect to have to leave your comfort zone so you can rely on Him completely and be a blessing to those around you.
PRAYER: Father, even though I want to be used by You in mighty ways, I have to admit I’m nervous about leaving the comfort of my current life. Empower me by your Spirit to be willing to step away from what is comfortable so I can experience your power and blessing. Help me use what you’ve taught me to bless those around me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Philippians 4:11 (New International Version)
Contentment: The feeling or showing satisfaction with one’s possessions, status, or situation.
The Bible tells us in numerous places and ways that we are to be content; have the joy of the Lord in our hearts; be joyful always; trust God in tribulation and the list goes on and on. When things are going well for us (the job is going well, gas prices are down, the teenagers are behaving and you are getting along with your spouse or significant other) it’s easy to be joyful, trusting and content.
But what about the other times? How can you be content when everything seems to go wrong around you, when God seems distant or angry with you and you feel yourself getting older and not getting better? How can you be content then?
There are many people out there that will give you three easy steps to contentment, or a product, service or program that will ‘bring you contentment’ but the reality is you already have everything at your disposal to be content!
While it’s not an easy thing to admit or practice, contentment is really about our reaction to the event around us more than it is the actual event, person or place. Contentment isn’t really about being happy! You can be content with your situation even though you aren’t happy about it. You an also be happy on the outside even though internally you are miserable. Paul tells us in Philippians he is content regardless of his circumstances because he ‘learned the secret’ to being content.
I’m not going to be one of those people who gives you the ‘three easy steps to contentment’. First of all, there is nothing easy about being content. Secondly each of us reacts to situations differently. However, here are some ideas to help you on the road to contentment.
First of all, each of us must realize that coming to the point of contentment is a process, a part of the journey of life. Paul says, “I have learned…”. Learning takes time and work and is best learned by experiencing discontentment. If you read the life of Paul you find that he was a man of extraordinary talent, wisdom and spiritual strength. But he was also a man who’d endured prison, had numerous attempts on his life and was physically and emotionally beaten.
I’m sure that the contentment the Paul talks about to the Phillippians was a contentment resulting from all the turmoil of his past. Little by little Paul saw that God provided for him in times of danger and prosperity. He had to go through the bad part of life in order to learn that God could really be trusted to take care of him.
Secondly contentment comes to us when we have a proper view of God, ourselves and others. When contentment is based on external things we are bound to be disappointed. Relationships fail. People fail. Economies and politics take different directions. Life is fluid and sometimes we end up in places we hate to be in.
Contentment based on the Soveriegn God isn’t dependent on external factors. He is always God. He is always in control. He always loves us and wants us to experience his love. Because of this, there is nothing that can effect His working in our lives.
We also need to have a proper view of ourselves. Sometimes the situations we find ourselves in are the result of choices we’ve made in the past or actions others have taken to hurt us. To live a life of contentment we need to forgive ourselves and forgive others for the things of our past. As long as we hold on to the issues of our past we will never be able to experience the contentment that God has for us.
Contentment based on relationships will fail regardless of how good those relationships are because relationships involve humans and humans fail. Sometimes we have to make the hard decisions to end relationships because they are harmful to us emotionally or physically. Ending a bad relationship, in some cases, may be the safest way to find contentment, but this must always involve forgiveness of the offending party as well. Even if trust is no longer possible, forgiveness is a requirement for your own healing.
PRAYER: Father God, there are so many things right now that are keeping me from being content. I worry about my job, my school, my friends, my family. It’s so hard for me to be content when everything seems to be falling apart around me. I realize now that I’ve been basing my contentment on external things and not the eternal and internal things you have for me. Help me to be patient and trusting as you bring the trials I must endure to learn contentment. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to trust you. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 