Idling on purpose

-

Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day. My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him. The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him. It is good both to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:21-26)

Everything around us may be collapsing, kind of going amiss in all kinds of different ways, but as Jeremiah declared: "Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends." Take heart - God hasn't abandoned you to the catastrophe of the day. He hasn't brought calamity upon you - but he stands at the ready to deliver you from that which has come!

One important thing I like within this passage is the part about his loving-kindness beginning afresh each day. That means his grace in our lives is as fresh as today - we don't have to rely upon 'old, stale grace' - we have new grace each breath we take. Grace is renewed moment-by-moment, but it also renews US moment-by-moment. What else can give us that kind of hope? I daresay nothing at all.

Wait upon God and you will never go away disappointed. That was the hardest lesson for me to learn because I am a 'doer'. I like to get things done NOW - waiting wasn't really in my vocabulary. I didn't do 'idleness' very well. I am learning that trusting God means I might just need to put things on 'idle' a bit in my life and take that required 'idle time' to just get alone with him. It is what brings clarity, refreshes my spirit, and renews my mind.

Does our deliverance always come the way we desired it to come? If your life is anything like mine, the answer to that one is that it seldom comes in the manner I predicted or desired it would come. In fact, God often surprises me with how 'fresh' his mercies are in my life. How about you? Has God surprised you with the freshness of his mercies this week? Revel in the newness of his grace - for his mercies are never stale or stagnant! Just sayin!

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment if this message has spoken to your heart.

Popular posts from this blog

Steel in your convictions

-
Steel in your convictions - what does this mean?  Winston Churchill once said, "Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning."  C.S. Lewis echoed his words when he penned, "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.  (I Thessalonians 1:3-5 The Message) God's hand is on us for something special.  We serve a God who is not only supernatural, he actually influences us to move beyond the natural into the abundance of all he is!  It is this very encouragement which gives us transforming power to live with courage in times of uncertainty. When God begins to pour into our lives, he is "pouring" the right stuff.  This is what Paul was r
Read more

Sentimental gush

-
9-11  So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11 MSG) Sentimental gush - that is what I kind of feel when I watch some of those sappy "and they lived happily after" love stories. Yes, I believe people can "be in love" and that "love will find a way" and all those other cliches about love. Don't think I am down on a solidly committed and growing relationship - it is just that our world often portrays love in ways that are totally gushy and then doesn't show the very 'hard' side of that loving being vital and vibrant
Read more

Not where, but who

-
It isn't where we worship - it is who we worship. It isn't about a place - it is about the heart. This Samaritan woman came to draw water from a well, but I doubt she expected this encounter with Jesus. She knew the prophets had predicted the Messiah to come, but did she know she'd encounter him at the side of the well? She just went there daily to draw the water and return to her duties back in the village. Today, she would not only be challenged by someone who knew her past, but she was being challenged to have her future changed for the better. That is how it is when we encounter Jesus - our past might have been a challenge for us, but our future doesn't have to be! “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?” Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer ma
Read more