Dear...
But it
is good for me to draw near to God:
I have put my trust in the Lord God,
that I may declare all thy works.
Psalms 73:28
Full of fire I was when the Spirit of God first touched me at age 40. But has the roaring flames since died down, and are the
embers now slowly dying off?
Thanks be to God, it has not and I have
many wonderful testimonies of God's faithfulness, that continues to fan
my desire to respond to His love.
Is this love for God not the same for you? Or has your desire to seek our Lord lost its tempo?
'..Saul
said, "When I saw that the people
were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days
appointed.....Therefore I felt compelled and offered a burnt offering.'
1 Samuel 13:11-12
Wait
upon the Lord was not something Saul seems capable of. Is this not the
same for many of us? In our impatience to bring matters to a conclusion
our way, have we reverted to leaning on our flawed understanding,
instead of obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit?
If you were to
reflect on your moments of inexpressible joy and peace, would it not be
because your faith grew from experiencing the wonderful handiwork of
God in your life, at His timing and where His ways are nigh possible for
the finite us to imagine to be possible?
'For every matter there is a time and purpose.'
Ecclesiastes 8:6
Why did not Saul trust the words of Samuel, who clearly is the emissary of God?
Preparation
of the heart, to be not
just cognizance of the Holy Spirit's leading, but a heart that is
aligned to the will of God, requires the three 'd' of determined,
disciplined, discipleship.
Spiritual exercise, be it in a
diligent and desirous daily routine of prayers, of feeding on the Word
of God, and a willingness to, in every situation, to look beyond our
understanding and start from God's perspective with a thankful heart,
and being like Christ in His love for people God placed in our paths,
will ensure we will know Christ our chief shepherd.
Knowing and
trusting in our Lord does not mean prayers will be answered in our ways
and at our timing. We need to wait upon our Lord. But waiting is not
about doing nothing. It is about honoring God in every manner. How do we
do that? His Words will guide us, His Spirit will lead us.
But
there are times where waiting upon our Lord seems to bring no clear
direction. Where honoring Him seems to exacerbate our dire
situation. Is it because we either heard God wrongly, or are responding
incorrectly or what?
'What,' is not because God has abandoned us or He is no longer sovereign, but rather at His timing.
What is not possible with man, is always possible with God.
God will and has divinely intervened in my and your life for He is faithful, much as we often waver.
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,' how true this song goes.
In turning to Christ,
- we will be better able to wait upon His timing and not be distracted by our desire to see a conclusion our way
-
we remind ourselves of His sacrifice for us and draw strength from Him
to persevere till He fulfills the hope we have in Him and in His way
- we draw near to God, and He will draw near to us, to divinely intervene in our imperfect life
Would
you forge ahead come what may, knowing Christ is the author and
finisher of your faith? Or would you rather be like the scavenger,
always foraging but never sated?
'Then Jesus said to His
disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow Me.'
Matthew 16:24
God blesses
Eng hieang
(17th May 2012)
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