Weakness Revealed
In thinking about the truth of Jeremiah 29:11, I say I know that The Lord has a plan for me, not to harm me but to prosper me * BUT * I'm just not feeling it. I'm inclined to say I don't see it but if I'm being completely honest, I don't see things turning out the way I want or how I think they should. OUCH! Let me just shine a big, bright light on my sin, hidden in the depths of my heart. Clearly it seems that I feel that my way is way better than His?! Wow...how arrogant of me to think that I have the better plan, that my way is better. It seems that the case of my discontentment is simple...could it be that I don't really believe HIM?
Let's look at the Israelites. They were so discontent in their journey out of Egypt, free from oppression, finally free from a life of slavery. For petes sake, they were traveling to the promised land and they couldn't stop complaining. Could this also be my story?
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you, causing you to hunger and then fed you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord... Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you... For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land - a land with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing. Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 5, 7-9 (emphasis added)
...This wilderness experience leads to the Promised Land. It is the path that God chose for us. He tells us in a thousand ways that His will is our peace, His choices for us will lead to fulfillment and joy but let's face it, the journey is sometimes so stinkin' hard! It seems so hard that we just can't stop focusing on the challenge, on the journey that is sometimes full of pain or difficulties.
The worst pains we experience are not those of the suffering itself but of our stubborn resistance to it, our steadfast insistence on our independence, on making the decision to do it "our" way. Could this stubborn resistance actually a rejection of the cross? Our best choice would be to * be patient * wait on The Lord for his will * wait quietly * wait trustingly. He holds all of time in the palm of his hands. To make it, to be successful, to overcome - we have to thank Him in advance for what the future holds (even if we don't know what that means, even if it looks scary, even if we don't think we can do it). In all of this, He is already there, waiting on us, loving us, prompting us to come and trust in Him. "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup" Psalm 16:5 NIV What if our response was "I'll take it Lord! Yes! I'll trust you with everything!"
Let's look at the Israelites. They were so discontent in their journey out of Egypt, free from oppression, finally free from a life of slavery. For petes sake, they were traveling to the promised land and they couldn't stop complaining. Could this also be my story?
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you, causing you to hunger and then fed you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord... Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you... For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land - a land with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing. Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 5, 7-9 (emphasis added)
...This wilderness experience leads to the Promised Land. It is the path that God chose for us. He tells us in a thousand ways that His will is our peace, His choices for us will lead to fulfillment and joy but let's face it, the journey is sometimes so stinkin' hard! It seems so hard that we just can't stop focusing on the challenge, on the journey that is sometimes full of pain or difficulties.
The worst pains we experience are not those of the suffering itself but of our stubborn resistance to it, our steadfast insistence on our independence, on making the decision to do it "our" way. Could this stubborn resistance actually a rejection of the cross? Our best choice would be to * be patient * wait on The Lord for his will * wait quietly * wait trustingly. He holds all of time in the palm of his hands. To make it, to be successful, to overcome - we have to thank Him in advance for what the future holds (even if we don't know what that means, even if it looks scary, even if we don't think we can do it). In all of this, He is already there, waiting on us, loving us, prompting us to come and trust in Him. "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup" Psalm 16:5 NIV What if our response was "I'll take it Lord! Yes! I'll trust you with everything!"
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