Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and he will do this: He will make our righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret - it leads only to evil. (vs. 1-8)
St. Augustine said: "Love the Lord and do whatever you want." Don't you love the subtext of this imperative? If you love the Lord, there are just some things you won't do...mainly because you have just lost your desire for them. The desire to love and please Him trumps the stuff you used to do to make yourself happy. Affirmation from your Father is what you live for. You delight to be in the presence of He Who delights in you! You are in safe pasture, little lamb, if you are dwelling near the Shepherd.
Lest we take this verse to mean that if we cow-tow to God He will give us whatever thing we want - power, prestige, gobs of money, friends in high places, etc., etc. - we need to understand how delighting in Him changes us. Like falling in love changes us. All we want to do then is please the other person. We want to be beautiful for them. We desire what is best for the other person. Any action or words that bring that sparkle to our lover's eyes is what we live to do. As we get to know our beloved more deeply, our lives become more intertwined with his and we want to enjoy what he enjoys. Just as we will eventually become one with the person we love, so we become one with the Lover of our souls. What hurts Him hurts us. What brings Him joy brings us joy. Our desires become his and his, ours. Only this Lover has the ability to bring our dreams to pass because He is the dream maker. What would you pay to hear from someone who could tell you what you were born to be and then help you to accomplish that? It is priceless.
More important really is the promise attached to this verse. Look what we receive when we trust in Him! We shine! Not because we are so darned perfect, but because He is! He has chosen to shine through us so that our righteousness from Him is apparent to the world. And when you have been defamed or abused, the truth about what happened to you will blaze like the noonday sun. Evil will be dealt with by the only One Who can mete out justice.
So wait. Be still in the face of injustice. He sees!! I will say that again. He sees!! Do not think for a minute that if you are a child who delights in her Father that He will let you be run over by whatever enemy is in your life right now. Don't worry about it! Don't take vindication into your own hands! Don't froth in anger and scream things you wish you had not said. Your Father sees what is happening to the one in whom He delights. He WILL make the justice of your cause shine out. In His time. Wait!
I love the verse in 1 Peter 2: 23 - When they hurled their insults at Him, he did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to the One Who judges rightly.
I had a man unfairly try to sue my business in 2006. He retained a lawyer and everything. I did all I could do to clarify what happened in our argument, but was not capable of doing in my flesh all that needed to be done to mediate the circumstances. This verse became my mantra. I willed to trust in the One Who judges rightly. I put the situation in His hands. He sent a lawyer to me who advised me without charge. Then we waited. The decision went my way. My God shining at His best for a child Who loves Him so.
See Him seeing you. Know you delight Him. Why would He not take care of what affects His beloved? Fretting leads to your trying to figure it out for yourself. In my experience, not a good idea! Get back to delighting in your Father. The rest is up to Him.the
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret - it leads only to evil. (vs. 1-8)
St. Augustine said: "Love the Lord and do whatever you want." Don't you love the subtext of this imperative? If you love the Lord, there are just some things you won't do...mainly because you have just lost your desire for them. The desire to love and please Him trumps the stuff you used to do to make yourself happy. Affirmation from your Father is what you live for. You delight to be in the presence of He Who delights in you! You are in safe pasture, little lamb, if you are dwelling near the Shepherd.
Lest we take this verse to mean that if we cow-tow to God He will give us whatever thing we want - power, prestige, gobs of money, friends in high places, etc., etc. - we need to understand how delighting in Him changes us. Like falling in love changes us. All we want to do then is please the other person. We want to be beautiful for them. We desire what is best for the other person. Any action or words that bring that sparkle to our lover's eyes is what we live to do. As we get to know our beloved more deeply, our lives become more intertwined with his and we want to enjoy what he enjoys. Just as we will eventually become one with the person we love, so we become one with the Lover of our souls. What hurts Him hurts us. What brings Him joy brings us joy. Our desires become his and his, ours. Only this Lover has the ability to bring our dreams to pass because He is the dream maker. What would you pay to hear from someone who could tell you what you were born to be and then help you to accomplish that? It is priceless.
More important really is the promise attached to this verse. Look what we receive when we trust in Him! We shine! Not because we are so darned perfect, but because He is! He has chosen to shine through us so that our righteousness from Him is apparent to the world. And when you have been defamed or abused, the truth about what happened to you will blaze like the noonday sun. Evil will be dealt with by the only One Who can mete out justice.
So wait. Be still in the face of injustice. He sees!! I will say that again. He sees!! Do not think for a minute that if you are a child who delights in her Father that He will let you be run over by whatever enemy is in your life right now. Don't worry about it! Don't take vindication into your own hands! Don't froth in anger and scream things you wish you had not said. Your Father sees what is happening to the one in whom He delights. He WILL make the justice of your cause shine out. In His time. Wait!
I love the verse in 1 Peter 2: 23 - When they hurled their insults at Him, he did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to the One Who judges rightly.
I had a man unfairly try to sue my business in 2006. He retained a lawyer and everything. I did all I could do to clarify what happened in our argument, but was not capable of doing in my flesh all that needed to be done to mediate the circumstances. This verse became my mantra. I willed to trust in the One Who judges rightly. I put the situation in His hands. He sent a lawyer to me who advised me without charge. Then we waited. The decision went my way. My God shining at His best for a child Who loves Him so.
See Him seeing you. Know you delight Him. Why would He not take care of what affects His beloved? Fretting leads to your trying to figure it out for yourself. In my experience, not a good idea! Get back to delighting in your Father. The rest is up to Him.the
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