Don't you just wish sometimes that God would speak to you in an audible voice? I do. Sometimes I wish that He would sit down with me face to face and tell me exactly what I should do in situations. What to think, what to say.
But that's not how He works.
I want immediate answers and directions, and He wants me to trust and wait on Him. He speaks, directs and leads often in a way we don't expect, and He often doesn't give me immediate answers because He wants me to trust in Him, to seek Him earnestly.
The verses in this Psalm 37:3-11 tell me what I should do in times when I feel like I need Him to speak directly to me.
Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.
For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.
But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Trust in the Lord, dwell in the land, feed on His faithfulness, delight yourself in the Lord, commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him, do not fret, cease from anger.
His way for me, the paths He wants me to take will become clear only as I am doing these things. He will give me the desires of my heart, He will bring my way to pass, He will bring forth my righteousness as the light and justice as the noon day, and I shall delight in the abundance of peace.
What amazing promises, but to get there, I need to come to that place of trusting and waiting. And not just waiting around, twiddling my thumbs, but I need to actively feed on His faithfulness - immerse myself in His goodness; delight myself in Him - meditate on and find joy in my salvation; and cease from anger and fretting - don't try and work it out in my head, leave it all up to God.
I like these words from John Piper from his book Future Grace.
"...loving God and delighting in God and drawing near to God mean looking to God as beautiful and worthy and precious. Waiting for God and taking refuge in God and hoping in God and crying out to God mean looking to him as valiant rescuer. Trusting God means counting on his trustworthiness to meet every need. And fearing God means standing in awe at the infinite chasm between his holiness and power on the one hand, and my sin and weakness on the other..."
You know before I started writing this post, my soul was downcast and heavy, but praise God for His word and way it has lifted me up and turned my focus all onto Him.
On You I wait all the day.
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