September 25, 2015

Be still before the Lord and wait for Him - Psalm 37:7

I apologize, sweet friends....this is the second blog in a row on "waiting".  I'm guessing the Lord is trying to get me see something I need more work on!  It appears from what we read about King David, he was struggling with the same thing.  This particular psalm has him fretting over the wicked vs. the righteous...you must read the whole psalm to see so much of our frustrations in our world today.  The good news is that last verse:  "The Lord helps...and delivers...he delivers them...because they take refuge in Him." 

We must be dependent upon our Lord in all that we do.  His presence is our strength!  In our pillow verse today we see that 1) we must be still 2) our stillness must be in His presence and 3) in our stillness we are waiting for Him...not necessarily what we want but what He wants.

We are so "activity minded" we are always looking for the next thrill...whether it be in pleasure, a meal, a relationship, an activity or whatever...stillness is not a priority in most of our days.  I have learned stillness from my sweet introverted husband whose very soul requires a great deal of quiet in order to do the work God has given him to do.  I am a chatterer...I have had to learn to be busy in quietness when he is close.  That's part of my assignment to care for him and I am grateful to have learned the value of it.

Oswald Chambers says:

When we are in an unhealthy state physically or emotionally,
we always want thrills.  In the physical domain this will lead
to counterfeiting the Holy Ghost; in the emotional life it leads
to inordinate affection and the destruction of morality;
and in the spiritual domain if we insist on getting thrills,
on mounting up with wings, it will end in the destruction of
spirituality.

Think about this:  for next week, add an hour of quiet/study/reflection ("before the Lord") for every day in the week.  See if you don't end the week in a better place than you did this week without it!
I'm reaching for my calendar right now!

For further study:  Psalm 40:1, Psalm 46:10, Isaiah 15-18, Isaiah 40:31, Zechariah 2:13, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Colossians 3:15-17, 1 Peter 3:4.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,
Holly