Yes, that is not the quote you may be used to hearing.* It's difficult to remain faithful when you think God is not. As a Christian, I readily acknowledge that God is, most often, unpredictable. As a pre-Christian rebel, I used to think God was up to no good because my life was mostly crap for so very long. I didn't understand that I had more to do with that than anybody. "It's my life," as the songs go, right? As a matter of fact, there are several defiant, anthemic songs promoting a rebellious person's attitude toward various authority figures. It's typical for people to rebel against God because they do not understand the truth of their existence, His existence, Satan's existence, or the point of life. And it's even more difficult to wait on God when you do not possess the appropriate spiritual perspectives and paradigm.
How does one wait on God when they don't even think He's in the process of doing something on their behalf? Knowing the truth makes all the difference! If we're not embracing the truth of life, we most likely will not know where we need to be and cannot be in the middle of God's perfect will, If this is the case in your life, you want to make some changes -- quick.
Wait a second. Or a minute. Or a month. Or ... You know changes can come quickly or they can come slooooowly, but they will always materialize if we persist through patient faithfulness. The key to patience is faithfulness. It's the beautiful symphony of trusting that God will bring the breakthrough because you need it and He loves you. If you are feeling brokenhearted and crushed in spirit, you can trust that God cares and that His word is true and for you.
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
King David was in the thick of many sticky situations throughout his life. I'm talking about two of them in this post.
The first situation, the personal inspiration behind Psalm 34, arose from an uprising between the Philistines (aka Palestinians of his day) and Israel led by David's father-in-law, and mortal enemy, King Saul. Saul was actively pursuing David so as to kill him and this put David in a very bad place where he and his men wandered throughout the wilderness and various mountainous strongholds just to avoid Saul and his men. At one point, to save his skin from the Philistine men, David acted crazy so he would be sent away unharmed. The Philistine men were questioning (rightly) David's loyalty and David knew he had to get out while the getting was good. David knew he would, one day, become king of Israel, but he had to make sure he got out of Gath in one piece.
Of course he would, as he was God's anointed, but David couldn't imagine how God would make it possible, so he mustered the best nonsensical idea he had and went with it. We're left shaking our heads at what he did to survive there, but how would you have reacted in a crunch? Clearly God allowed it like He does so many times we make bad decisions. But why does God allow for evil? We have free will and our sins give the devil a legal right to attack us. That's why sin is so egregious in God's eyes. He doesn't hate the sinner, He hates the sin because of what sin does to the world and what the devil does to us.
Every single thing that God allows that we get ourselves into is to help us get to know Him better (because that's usually when we seek Him most sincerely) and to help us learn how to do things better the next time. He promises to turn all things around for our good!
“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.”
The second sticky situation is when he let his army go out to battle while he remained at the palace. This is when he had the affair with Bathsheba. Why David made such a horrendous error in judgment may be easier to understand if you envision Bathsheba as 'the girl of his dreams.' Though that does not make what he did right, the point is that David and Bathsheba's coitus was a profound offense to God because God was eventually going to bless David with an heir to the throne.
You see, Bathsheba would become the mother of Solomon ... the same Solomon who would become the next king of Israel, succeeding his father, David. God promised David that he would never fail to have a descendant on the throne. Solomon would also become the wisest human who has ever lived. That means only one thing: David and Bathsheba were eventually going to wind up getting together on God's timing and have Solomon as a child. David's lust for her caused him to commit several sins (David followed the devil's advice) as he preempted God's plans. David's great offense was that he was not faithfully patient. He did not wait on God's promise or blessing ... though he would proclaim the desire to be faithful and patient over and over.
“Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.”
Do you ever find it a Samsonian task to wait as the storm rains, winds, and waves swirl and beat against your boat? Never forget Jesus is not merely IN your boat, but Jesus IS your boat! You'll be better able to endure the storms when you realize He's experiencing the storm with you.
The devil (Satan) wants to tempt us to preempt God's plan for our lives. His evil plan is to get us to disqualify ourselves from God's blessings. Satan will always send a counterfeit -- a handsome man or a beautiful woman, a great job offer, a quick buyout, or the like -- BEFORE God sends His best. If you don't learn to discern between the genuine article and a counterfeit, you will always get ripped off. Until we learn to remain patient and abide in Jesus (Our Boat/Ark), tuned to the promptings and voice of the Holy Spirit, and trusting and obeying Father God's commands of the Royal Law of Love, we must continue to trust His loving will for our lives.
Practice - daily - leaving all the outcomes to God, remaining faithfully patient, and learn to enjoy the boat ride!
Prayer
Father God in Heaven, You are the One who established the universe and everything in its place. You have plans for me and everyone else in the world. I thank You that You care so deeply for me that You have forgiven me my many sins and desire to have me so intimately walk with You that You pursue me as a groom pursues his bride. Thank You for always wanting the very best for me and always working on my behalf. Help me to know what You're up to so I can better learn how to remain faithful even as the storms threaten to take me under. You are my boat, Jesus. You are my Ark. How can I thank You enough that You have kept me from sinking all these years? Thank you! Teach me to remain silent when I must remain silent and help me to be comfortable when I am usually shaken to the point of worry and depression. Help me to see depression for what it is: a spiritual affliction meant to take me under the waves. I seek You today for You are the One in whom I place my hope. I choose to pursue You, my loving God. In Jesus' mighty name, amen!
*Practice never made anything or anyone perfect, anyway.
Thanks to Vil Son on Unsplash for the great banner photo!
Motivational photo culled from shinewithfrannie.com. Many thanks to the designer!