Roam and Rest in God’s Faithfulness

“Believe in the Eternal, and do what is good—
    live in the land He provides; roam, and rest in God’s faithfulness.
Take great joy in the Eternal!
    His gifts are coming, and they are all your heart desires!” (Psalm 37:3-4, The Voice)

  “Believe in the Eternal, and do what is good.” Or as Oswald Chambers said, trust God and do the next thing. Don’t worry about how you will serve God over the next fifty years. Be concerned with being faithful and obedient for the next five minutes.

“Live in the land He provides.” Bloom where you’re planted and treat your job as your holy occupation and your act of worship. In fact, treat everything you do from the moment you wake until you lay your head on your pillow as worship.

“Roam, and rest in God’s faithfulness.” Trust that God will provide. Trust that God’s faithfulness in the past is a good indicator of how the future will play out. In fact, you can safely rest in the same God who’s legacy of faithfulness is well documented through the 66 books of the Bible.

“Take great joy in the Eternal!” Live life as the gift it is and live in a constant state of joy, remembering that you are always loved and cherished by the God who made you. You are still the apple of your Father’s eye.

“His gifts are coming, and they are all your heart desires!” The best gift God gives is always God Himself– His presence is the best gift you’ll ever get. When you start living out of thankfulness for God’s nearness, you will find  His other gifts along the way.

God is good. God is faithful. What He said, He will do. Believe that and rest tonight. Live as if what He promised has already come to pass. Thank Him for what you’ve yet to receive. Then joy unspeakable will be yours.

 

 

Promises, Promises

“Protect me, God, for the only safety I know is found in the moments I seek You.
I told You, Eternal One, “You are my Lord,
    for the only good I know in this world is found in You alone” (Psalm 16:1-2)

That’s something I need to remember. Especially in these days when everything seems so unpredictable and topsy-turvy and nothing seems settled, when the only constant in this world seems to be that change is inevitable.

When I was a kid, my world seemed a lot more secure. People never lost jobs, friends were always healthy and vital, and all my cousins and uncles and aunts and grandparents were always around for holidays and special occasions. It seemed to me that all my friends’ parents stayed married and everybody I knew had a happy family.

But these days, that’s not the case. I’ve said goodbye to too many loved ones already. I’ve had my fair share of job losses. I’ve even lost one or two friends. Too many people I know have gone through divorces and unhappy homes.

But the promises of God are secure. Absolutely secure. As in “good as done” secure. God’s promises are so sure that we can believe in His future for us and live that reality now. We can speak of the future promises in the present tense even when we can’t see them yet.

That’s worth celebrating. No matter what happens tomorrow, good or bad, these words of God will not fail. Even if I fail, they will not. As the Bible says, even if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. Even when my feelings and my thoughts tell me otherwise, God is true even when they lie. Always.

As I’ve heard it said before, it’s not about big faith in God, but faith in a big God, even if that faith is mustard-seed small. As my friend used to say, it’s a big world out there, but a bigger God.