Thursday I ended up at Burger Tex for lunch. For those of you not familiar with it, it's exactly the way it sounds. Not exactly healthy, but at least I had the Grilled Chicken (with fries and a coke). I guess that’s the opposite of eating a Quarter Pounder w/Cheese supersized value meal with a DIET coke. Anyway, I digress. When I went into the bathroom to wash my hands I saw a sign near the sink that read: “Employees: Please wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and hot water before returning to work.”
It was very specific (and had a little ketchup on it). I was thinking about what might go into an employer feeling like they needed to elaborate on how to wash hands. “Don’t rinse them off, wash for 20 seconds. And not just water, but use soap. Oh, and use hot water.” Obviously, this wasn’t just a shift manager going through the motions. It sounds like they either had a bad experience or knew the nature of their employees to “cut corners”. Either way, there were specifics laid out, and the standards and expectations were set.
I’m thankful that scripture is that way. Whenever we’re wondering if we can hear a direct word from God, don’t forget that that is exactly what the Bible is. Sometimes we see it and think, “No duh, that’s pretty obvious.” But then it lists it again, reminds us again, simplifies it again, and restates it again. Why? It’s not because God forgets how to do things, it’s because we do. And if we think about it, many times we default to just going through the motions.
In Psalm 37, we’re given some specifics. They are instructions, reminders, and promises. They are very direct and detailed. As a pastor friend of mine always said, “God is in the details”.
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 your 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.
-Psalm 37:3-8
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trust, delight, dwell, commit, be still, do not fret, refrain...
ReplyDeletei should tape these words to my bathroom mirror.
-amy
No doubt right? And on my fridge. in my car. maybe a new tattoo?
ReplyDeleteWait for the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; (Psalm 37:34)
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this psalm today I went back to Numbers and re-read the story of Caleb and Joshua giving their report on the Promised Land. They saw how fruitful the land was and pleaded with the Israelites to trust God to provide them the land and give them victory over their enemies. I had the same emotion I usually do when reading stories in the OT, “God has just led you out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and across the desert, why do you doubt Him now?” However, the longer I live the more I understand: they doubt because they are men.
I see and I do not believe. I experience grace and mercy poured out over and over, and yet I still ask, “Will God show up this time?” The more I walk with God, the more of myself I see in the OT stories of doubt, struggles with faith, and having to learn lessons the hard way. I fool myself when I say, “With a pillar of fire and manna showing up every morning, it would be easy to have faith.” They could just as easily say to me, “With a house, car, no persecution, a refrigerator full of food, healthy family, time to read the Word every day, and the promise that the Holy Spirit is IN you, it must be easy to have faith.”
The truth is that it is never easy to have faith. It’s never easy to grow our faith. To grow our faith it must be stretched. To trust God we must be willing to fall and let Him catch us – or not. We must trust that He may let us fall, but through that fall He will be glorified and do something great with it. If it wasn’t a struggle, it wouldn’t require faith. The only times our faith will truly grow is when we’re forced to ask ourselves, “Why do you doubt Him now?”
Amen!!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you too Amy!
Wow... really great stuff, anonymous! That is so true.
ReplyDelete37:4
ReplyDeleteDelight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
I must admit I’ve been having much trouble with this, of late. I wish I could say that I’ve responded to the Lord’s silence with spiritual maturity and grace, but an adolescent withdrawal is more accurate.
I have what I’ll call the “short list”. Bullet points of my expectations of Almighty God. (I know...you’re backing away to avoid the lightening.) I realize it reeks of ingratitude, entitlement, and selfishness. I can see that plain as day. But I cannot shake the idea that God SHOULD do these things. They honor the principles in the Word, they seem to correspond to God’s character as I know it, and they are “good” things. Still there the list is, each item yet to be checked off.
I am trying to remind myself of God’s sovereignty. And, truth be told, I can see him moving in some of these areas. God simply does not oblige himself to move on my schedule. DANGIT!! Nor, did he oblige himself to move on David’s schedule. How many times in this chapter and throughout the whole Bible does God say “wait”, “trust”, “remain faithful”.
To delight in God is as much a privilege as a duty. He has not promised to gratify the appetites of the body, and the humours of the fancy, but the desires of the renewed, sanctified soul. What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and serve God. (Matthew Henry)
I long to be able to pour my heart out in praise in any circumstance. Today, I just want to be able to not roll my eyes, turn up my music and slam my door.
"Purim" is the name of the celebration set forth in the book of Esther, and this year it's celebrated on March 9/10, so the timing for reading Esther is perfect!
ReplyDeleteThere is a tongue-in-cheek Jewish Holiday Apron that reads: Universal Jewish Holiday Apron:
1) They tried to kill us
2) We survived
3) Let's Eat.
The truth that is revealed in that humor is that God is true to his promise in Jer 31:35-36, and the book of Esther is a testament to that promise. If God is faithful to His promise to Israel, He is also Faithful to His promise to us in Joel 2:32:
"And everyone who calls
on the name of the LORD will be saved"
Halleluiah
I am reminded of the need to spend time with God daily. We all want to draw closer to Him. Who wouldn't want to have a close relationship with their Father? When we don't we grow farther apart. We don't do it on purpose, maybe we do, it just happens. We get busy. We get tired. The thought of 30 extra minutes in bed sounds better then getting up and getting in the bible. Then we actually take time to read and ponder God's words, we remember that feeling of being close. Thank you for including me in your bloggings. It is the feeling I needed to feel these days. - Michael
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