Encouragement

Encouragement

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this. Ps 37:4-5

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1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. 3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil. 9 For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. Psalms 37:1-9 (NIV)

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Wow! Can you believe what we just read? Is it possible that I should really trust
God and “be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him”? Let’s take a moment
to understand a little about who wrote this because it seems to have been drawn
from his personal experience.

Do you have any lions that need to be torn apart? Are you facing a giant that seems
impossible to combat? I trust you know enough about David to know that he was
guilty of murder and adultery. He knew what it was to be hunted from cave
to cave and to have a price on his head.

This Scripture was not written by some perfect saint living in an ivory tower.
This man had feet of clay just like us. So what can we learn from this passage?
God does not hand out His gifts and blessing according to our efforts at perfection
(although I would be foolish to infer that we are not held responsible for the
things we do in our lives).

God looks at our heart, the desires and values that we hold deep within our being.
God knows our nature, the ability of Satan to tempt us according to our weaknesses
and our imperfect understanding when we face life’s challenges. We fall down or
we head off in the wrong direction, but He knows our hearts and we find, as David
found, that He honours our deep commitment to Him and our modest
efforts as we struggle in this life.

The greatest challenge for me has always been my constant acknowledgement of
my sinful nature. Surely God cannot accept me as I am. I deserve to be punished.
I deserve to be found out and humiliated. However, when I come to God,
repenting of my sin, He forgives and FORGETS! The next time I come to Him
acknowledging my failings for the same previous sin, the slate is clean.
The account is settled. There are no outstanding charges, no further debt to be paid.

Be encouraged today. Hope in the Lord. “Trust in the Lord… delight in the Lord…
commit your way to the Lord and He will make your righteousness shine like the
dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” (Ps 37:3-6)

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Heavenly Father, I seem to get so busy watching all of the struggles going on
around me. In fact, it seems that even in my own life I often go from one struggle
to the next. Some mornings I find it hard to even get up because of the challenges I
anticipate during the day. I awake at night only to worry about what went wrong or
what will likely go wrong. I know I shouldn’t, since I know that these worries take
a lot of joy out of my life. Please help me to view things as You view them.
Although I don’t know how You plan to work out the details, may I at least grow in
confidence, knowing that all will be well if I trust You and honour You in the
choices I have to make today. Amen.

-Noel Churchman

Noel was the Executive Director of Christian Horizons form 1976 to 2001. The devotionals we will be using are from a book he wrote in 2005 called “Walking with God”. Noel’s reflections are grounded in his experiences as an educator, and provider of supports for individuals with exceptional needs as well as his life as a dedicated follower of Christ.