Greetings again my Brethren. God is looking for us to stop all of our running around and yoyo daily living (up one day and down the next) , and just come into a rest that can only be built in us by God Himself. Now make no mistake my friend this can be a very painful process in our lives. Many people (even some Christians) say give your heart to Jesus and your life will be a breeze, well that is just a bold face lie. The opposite is true. Either God or you are in charge of your life. Both cannot be running your life. Either we are walking in the ways of God or we are walking in our own steps. In Psalm David says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” (Psalm 37:23) How can man know the ways that make God delight? By walking in His (God’s) ways. And God’s ways are not our ways no matter how people try to spin it. What is the only way for man to be happy? By walking in the way that God has ordained for man to walk. The Psalms has a lot to say about walking in the way God wants us to walk so we can come to a place of rest as we learn to wait on Him. In Psalm 37 we read, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. (Psalms 37:3-5) Let us take these three verses and see what God would have for us. I have highlighted the beginning of each verse to set the central thought of the verse. In verse three the central thought has to do with “trust.” If we trust in the LORD we shall have confidence in the integrity and character of God for our daily provision. Isaiah said it like this, “Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.” (Isaiah 50:10) How can man direct his steps if he knows not where he is going? He is in darkness (not the spiritual darkness) because he does not have the light of knowing and understanding which is only found by walking in the ways of God. The fear of the LORD brings wisdom and understanding maybe that is why many people (including Christians have little wisdom today and no fear (respect and awe) of God. God’s integrity and character speak for themselves yet many people (including some Christians) take for granted His qualities as a guide to live by and yet lean to their own understanding. Verse four begins with the word “delight.” Now do not think you know what the word “delight” means. The word “delight” has nothing to do with making us happy. We humans (me too sometimes) are always looking for the shortest way to happiness or “the desires of our heart,” well God is not so much concerned about our happiness as we are. The word “delight” means to become pliable. moldable, bendable. Then we can seek and find in God our greatest joy and satisfaction. How can this be? Well when we allow God to mold and shape us and work in our lives then our desires will be His desires and how can He not give us our desires when our desires is now His desires? But unless we allow God to bend us and break us, mold us as the potter beats the clay on the wedging board then kneads the clay over and over before it is placed on the wheel of life and fashioned for His use as a vessel of honor or dishonor. Only to be broken down time and time again until the clay has been made into a vessel of use by the potter waiting for the furnace. The finished vessel is not done until it has been forged in the flames of God’s purifying fire. The writer to the Hebrews tells us, “For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29) Maybe that is why many people (including Christians) do not choose to stand too close to Him. They know if they get too close to the LORD they and their plans, ways, and dreams will be burnt up into ashes they are not willing to see all they have become and all they want in the future to go up in smoke. But God has a better way. And verse five begins with the word “commit.” How do we commit our ways unto the LORD? Well the second part of verse five tells us, “trust also in Him” There can never be any “committing” our ways to the LORD without first “trusting” in the LORD. I guess the question is not have we committed our ways to the LORD, but have we trusted our ways to the LORD. Religious people commit while Christians trust. Which one are you? In 1887 John H. Sammis penned the words, “Trust and obey for there no other way.” For us to trust and obey we must not love this world nor the things in it. It is hard thing to do in this life, but the older I get the more I understand to make it to heaven the more I need to hate this world (not the earth, but an anti-Christ system) and all that the world stands for. Now there is true commitment.
Next month we will begin to look at the proper characteristics of our waiting. Walter Beuttler said if you build God a temple He will inhabit it. Have you built God a temple? If you do He will abide and wait for you.
Written by David Stahl
