Monday, October 31, 2011

Going deeper with God!

"A believer who has been persecuted and becomes bitter... a believer who has known disappointment because of the conduct of another believer (or someone in the world) and is resentful... and most of all, that Christian who has been disappointed in God because of what He has done, and is unhappy with God and with the state he is in at the hands of so unfair a God... surely a Christian who experiences these emotions is not in a state where his will is in concert with God; he is, rather, in a state where self is originating the desires of the heart.

We do not always understand the will of God,
but to trust His sovereignty completely is another matter!"
Mme. Jeanne Guyon  1648-1717  [France]


What an amazing quote from 300 years ago.  To trust God, even if we do not understand what He is doing.  It has a strange similarity to the words of a hymn written in 1887

.

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Refrain
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
Refrain
But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Refrain
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey

These challenging words from yesterday speak powerful encouragement to my spirit.  It is so easy to get caught up in questioning God, that we forget to worship Him.  As the old saying goes, there is a God, and it isn't me.  But while we believe that, it is so easy to live as if we do not.

Job said it this way...

Job 42:3 (NLT)
You [God] asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’
It is I [Job]—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,
things far too wonderful for me.


The Apostle Paul said it this way...

Romans 11:33-36 (NLT)
33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! 34 For who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? 35 And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?
36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.


I hear the same message in the scriptures, writing, and song.
It is a message of trusting in God, obeying God,
and putting my own messed up emotions aside!


Take time to reflect and enjoy!


Blessings,
Paul