Category: Listen for the Lord

This Is the Day the Lord Has Made

Psalm 118:24                         This Is the Day the Lord Has Made

“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (NKJV).

 

That’s right, when we think of this verse, we usually think of bright times, joyous times as pictured above.  That’s a good thing to do—rejoice in the good times.  Praise God when his blessings are apparent, when the trail ahead is interesting and good friends are enjoying a hike together.  That’s the kind of day when we like to “rejoice and be glad in it.”

But there are other days when the sun isn’t shining very brightly, the clouds are hanging low, and things just aren’t going our way–when there just doesn’t seem to be any light in the day.

Guess what?  This is still a day the Lord made, and we are to “rejoice and be glad in it” also.  Today started out like one of those lifeless days with difficult problems.  It was hard to “rejoice and be glad in it.”  Then God caused me to think of the fantastic family I have. And the love we all share.  He also reminded me that His Son, Jesus, loves me enough that He sacrificed Himself on the cross of Calvary so that He could spend eternity with me.  Jesus did that so He could spend time with me!  Wow!  Then, in the middle of the morning, the problem that seemed insurmountable earlier was chopped down to size.  So, this day that began with me mumbling and grumbling now has me rejoicing and being glad in it.  Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness.

 

Go with God and Rest

Mark 6:31                                                         Go with God and Rest

“Then because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them. ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest’ ” (NIV).

 

In the past week we felt the busyness that Jesus described to His disciples, although others weren’t coming and going, we were constantly on the go with many tasks that needed to be completed in a short period of time.  Needless to say, we were exhausted.  We needed to “Come away with Jesus, and He will give us rest.”  Even when Jesus spoke those words to His disciples, they did not have a long time to rest, but a short time alone with Jesus can wipe away the exhaustion and reinvigorate the most tired.  There is a way to make the time particularly restful and refreshing, and make us ready to re-engage with the world.  I suggest taking the time to find a place where interruptions are excluded and then pour out your heart–all of it, the problems, the concerns, and the feelings of hopelessness.  Then, sit and listen for His still small voice.  Sit and feel His arms surround you.  Look up and see Him sitting on His throne reaching His hand to you.  Hear Him say, “I love you.”  It may take some time to calm yourself enough to experience His peace, but the time will be worth it.  Jesus is always ready, willing, and able to spend alone time with us.  Just call Him.  I guarantee that you will not get a busy  signal, that He will listen attentively to what you have to say, and that He will answer you.

Don’t Run Ahead of God

2 John 1:9                                                  Don’t Run Ahead of God

“Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the father and the Son” (NIV).

 

This golfer must have been really in a hurry.  He got to the course before the sun did, and this is not the first hole.  I hope he had good eyesight because you don’t have to hit the ball too far or too far off-line to lose it in the fog.

This impatient golfer made me think of the times that I have gotten ahead of God.  He gave me an assignment, and I grabbed it and ran.  Unfortunately, I was like the golfer above, except that I got out before the Son.  Guess which one had more problems.  Right, I am the one who got so excited that I made big plans before I was ready for the small steps.  There was some success, but it was limited, not nearly what God wanted.  I didn’t heed the verse above or the advice given by Back to the Bible devotional of 1/20/2019, “As you seek God’s will for your life, seek His timetable as well.  Don’t let your impatience carry you ahead of God.  To do the right thing at the wrong time makes the right thing the wrong thing.”  We need to keep in step with God’s time as well as His will.  When we do get ahead of God, we have no good sight on the goal so we may well spend a lot of time wandering around, and may actually do something wrong.  Just ask Abraham and Sarah.

God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, but it was taking a long time, so they took the matter in their own hands in order to hurry up the time schedule.  They decided to have a son by Sarah’s hand maiden.  Wrong!  The result was Ishmael, and he was not the one promised.  Once the promised one, Isaac, was born, the troubles multiplied as the two of them had claims on Abraham that are not resolved yet today.

Jentezen Franklin says in his 9/24/2021 Daily Devotion entitled, Don’t get ahead of God, “When God gives you a promise or a vision for your life, it’s like a seed.  It needs time to take root before it can bear fruit.  It’s like the birth of a baby.  First the seed, then the pregnancy, then the development within the womb, and finally the day of delivery.  And what do the parents do during this time?  Prepare!”  Good advice.  God knows that His plans for us take time to grow inside our hearts and minds before they can grow in the world.