"The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." (Isaiah 12:2)
FEAR: (verb) to be afraid; to expect or worry about (something bad or unpleasant); (noun) an unpleasant emotion due to be anticipation or awareness of danger; an anxious concern.
STRENGTH: the quality or state of being physically strong; the ability to resist being moved or being broken by force; the quality that allows someone to deal with problems in a determined and effective way.
Typically, these two words don't work together. They combat each other. Strength overcomes fear, or fear is too much for strength (meaning strength is no longer really a strength). Sometimes, fear can give a person strength, usually due to an adrenaline rush. How else could average human beings lift a car that was about to crush a child (one of the miraculous stories you hear about from time to time)?
Each day we face something that we do not have the strength to overcome. It's the world. More specifically, it's sin, thrown at us by a devil who hates us and is much more powerful than we are. He may not physically beat you up, but he knows your weaknesses and takes advantage of them whenever it's possible to do so.
I dont' know about you, but I don't have the strength within myself to fight the devil... alone. Left to myself, I have reason to have a lot of fear.
Here's what Sarah Young wrote in Jesus Calling...
"Don't be afraid. I am your Strength and your Song. I am your Power and your Joy.
"What does it mean to have Me as your Strength? I simply spoke and the universe was created! Mountains soared up out of the earth! The sun and stars lit up the sky! My Power is absolutely unlimited. And I am able to take that same Power and make you strong.
"Think of it: I am on your side. I will guide you, protect you, and even fight for you if necessary. So don't let yourself bcome filled up with fear. Fear only blocks My Strength. Instead of being afraid, trust Me--remember that I am your Strength!
"I am also your Song. I want you to grab hold of My Joy. Celebrate! Shout for joy because I am right beside you!"
How well does your joy match your walk and your talk for God?
When have you most keenly felt God's goodness? His love? His strength?
Friday, March 21, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Waiting
"Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me." (John 14:1)
"Waiting, trusting, and hoping are intricately connected, like golden strands interwoven to form a strong chain. Trusting is the central strand because it is the response from My children that I desire most. Waiting and hoping embellish the central strand and strengthen the chain that connects you to Me. Waiting for Me to work, with your eyes on Me, is evidence that you really do trust Me. If you mouth the words 'I trust You' while anxiously trying to make things go your way, your words ring hollow. Hoping is future-directed, connecting you to your inheritance in heaven. However, the benefits of hope fall fully on you in the present.
"Because you are Mine, you don't just pass time in your waiting. You can wait expectantly, in hopeful trust. Keep you 'antennae' out to pick up even the faintest glimmer of My Presence."
(From Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young)
"Wait on the Lord; be of good courage and He shall give you the desires of your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord." (Psalm 27:14)
I did not do a lot of dating as a teenager. I was more into playing basketball and music, and I wasn't what you would call the most smooth guy around (awkward teenage boy would best have described me). I got a little flak for it at times, how I was missing out and what I should do differently. Early on in college I attempted to do a bit more, seeing as I was closing in on 20 and some of my friends were already getting pretty serious in their romantic lives. More to the point, the guys and girls were snatching each other up, and I was starting to feel like a third wheel more and more! I also attended a school affectionately nicknamed "Southern Matrimonial College," and was a pastor-in-training to boot (there's a bit of a stigma attached to unattached pastors even to this day).
It was after my sophomore year that I finally decided to quit trying. If it was going to happen, it would happen in God's time, not because of my efforts (which were sometimes directed toward women that would have probably been terrible matches for me anyway, and I wouldn't have been any better for them).
Funny thing... when I actually started waiting on the Lord in my relational life, the pressure went away! Even funnier, it was that summer, while working at a summer camp in California, that I fell in love with the woman who would be my wife four years later! The cheesy thing to say is that it was a "match made in heaven," but in actuality I know that was a true statement, cheesy though it may sound.
There just isn't a substitute for Jesus. When we wait on Him, the best is yet to come. When we do not, then we wind up accepting something less than the best. Now, that's not to say He cannot recreate and redeem something. There are people who have great marriages and friendships out there who went about it in all the wrong ways. The point I am making is that waiting on God brings about contentment with who you are and what is going on around you. Why? Because you know the best is yet to come! It strengthens hope, which is a crucial thing for those who follow Jesus.
We wait for Jesus to come and claim His bride... His people... the Church! That's anyone who is a follower of Jesus. It stinks sometimes. It's hard, awkward, and frustrating. The whole creation, according to Paul, waits like a woman in labor. If we don't wait on Jesus, however, we wind up grasping for substitutes even for His kingdom. Here is a bold statement to go with it: anything less than the Kingdom God has planned for us is a demonic fraud! Not trusting in Christ, not waiting for Him, not hoping for Him... it all leads to something far less than the best.
Have you ever suffered for settling?
When have you experienced "delayed gratification"?
What have you learned in your life from waiting on the Lord?
"Waiting, trusting, and hoping are intricately connected, like golden strands interwoven to form a strong chain. Trusting is the central strand because it is the response from My children that I desire most. Waiting and hoping embellish the central strand and strengthen the chain that connects you to Me. Waiting for Me to work, with your eyes on Me, is evidence that you really do trust Me. If you mouth the words 'I trust You' while anxiously trying to make things go your way, your words ring hollow. Hoping is future-directed, connecting you to your inheritance in heaven. However, the benefits of hope fall fully on you in the present.
"Because you are Mine, you don't just pass time in your waiting. You can wait expectantly, in hopeful trust. Keep you 'antennae' out to pick up even the faintest glimmer of My Presence."
(From Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young)
"Wait on the Lord; be of good courage and He shall give you the desires of your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord." (Psalm 27:14)
I did not do a lot of dating as a teenager. I was more into playing basketball and music, and I wasn't what you would call the most smooth guy around (awkward teenage boy would best have described me). I got a little flak for it at times, how I was missing out and what I should do differently. Early on in college I attempted to do a bit more, seeing as I was closing in on 20 and some of my friends were already getting pretty serious in their romantic lives. More to the point, the guys and girls were snatching each other up, and I was starting to feel like a third wheel more and more! I also attended a school affectionately nicknamed "Southern Matrimonial College," and was a pastor-in-training to boot (there's a bit of a stigma attached to unattached pastors even to this day).
It was after my sophomore year that I finally decided to quit trying. If it was going to happen, it would happen in God's time, not because of my efforts (which were sometimes directed toward women that would have probably been terrible matches for me anyway, and I wouldn't have been any better for them).
Funny thing... when I actually started waiting on the Lord in my relational life, the pressure went away! Even funnier, it was that summer, while working at a summer camp in California, that I fell in love with the woman who would be my wife four years later! The cheesy thing to say is that it was a "match made in heaven," but in actuality I know that was a true statement, cheesy though it may sound.
There just isn't a substitute for Jesus. When we wait on Him, the best is yet to come. When we do not, then we wind up accepting something less than the best. Now, that's not to say He cannot recreate and redeem something. There are people who have great marriages and friendships out there who went about it in all the wrong ways. The point I am making is that waiting on God brings about contentment with who you are and what is going on around you. Why? Because you know the best is yet to come! It strengthens hope, which is a crucial thing for those who follow Jesus.
We wait for Jesus to come and claim His bride... His people... the Church! That's anyone who is a follower of Jesus. It stinks sometimes. It's hard, awkward, and frustrating. The whole creation, according to Paul, waits like a woman in labor. If we don't wait on Jesus, however, we wind up grasping for substitutes even for His kingdom. Here is a bold statement to go with it: anything less than the Kingdom God has planned for us is a demonic fraud! Not trusting in Christ, not waiting for Him, not hoping for Him... it all leads to something far less than the best.
Have you ever suffered for settling?
When have you experienced "delayed gratification"?
What have you learned in your life from waiting on the Lord?
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