For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and
confidence shall be your strength: and you would not.
Isaiah 30:15
The Lord continues to keep me in the desert...
In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and
confidence shall be your strength: and you would not.
Isaiah 30:15
The Lord continues to keep me in the desert...
It’s a place for one’s faith and character to be refined and developed. It’s a good place to be, really. Many a follower of Messiah Jesus has had to spend time in the desert. Not an actual desert, of course, but a place where one is set apart by God in order to prepare him to be used by the Lord in various ways.
Some of the Lord’s best-known servants had desert experiences: Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, the apostle Paul, and even the Lord Jesus himself had to be led into the wilderness to be tested. And those who are walking with the Lord today are no different.
For me, however, the hardest part is learning how to wait upon the Lord, and this is especially true when it comes to problems or a difficult situation that I may find myself confronted with. Usually, my immediate action is to try and fix things. To speak up and defend myself. But the Lord has been firmly teaching me to shut up, to remain calm and still, and to trust in Him.
I’ve yet to truly learn this. But I thank my heavenly Father for being such a patient teacher. His word says to, “Cast all your care upon the Lord, because He cares for you” (I Peter 5:7). Yet how many times have I tossed my cares and concerns at the foot of God’s throne of grace, only to pick them up again?
How many times have I tried to straighten things out rather than wait on the Lord? Men are generally fixers. So whenever I would find myself in a difficult situation, I would try desperately to talk myself out of it, but this has got to stop.
The Lord wants me to get better at learning how to wait for Him to work things out, and waiting is a big challenge for me. I’m often perplexed at knowing when to keep waiting, and when to move forward. The same with knowing when to speak, and when to keep quiet.
For me these things mostly come by trial and error, as opposed to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. The fact is, He is always guiding. While the big question is, am I following His guidance, or am I responding to a given situation with a carnal mind?
Oftentimes well-meaning voices will advise me to do this or that. Yet there’s no guarantee that the voices of friends are correct. Therefore I must learn for myself how to have a heart that is still and calm, while trusting in the Lord to work things out for my good.
So at this time in my life the Lord has been speaking to my spirit about what it truly means to, “Let go, and let God.” It’s a slogan I will often use, but be guilty of seldom truly adhering to.
I still need more work at learning how to be still. In other words, when to keep my mouth shut as I quietly wait under the protective wings of the Lord until the storm passes. God doesn’t want my help, He wants my heart.
D. B.
Some of the Lord’s best-known servants had desert experiences: Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, the apostle Paul, and even the Lord Jesus himself had to be led into the wilderness to be tested. And those who are walking with the Lord today are no different.
For me, however, the hardest part is learning how to wait upon the Lord, and this is especially true when it comes to problems or a difficult situation that I may find myself confronted with. Usually, my immediate action is to try and fix things. To speak up and defend myself. But the Lord has been firmly teaching me to shut up, to remain calm and still, and to trust in Him.
I’ve yet to truly learn this. But I thank my heavenly Father for being such a patient teacher. His word says to, “Cast all your care upon the Lord, because He cares for you” (I Peter 5:7). Yet how many times have I tossed my cares and concerns at the foot of God’s throne of grace, only to pick them up again?
How many times have I tried to straighten things out rather than wait on the Lord? Men are generally fixers. So whenever I would find myself in a difficult situation, I would try desperately to talk myself out of it, but this has got to stop.
The Lord wants me to get better at learning how to wait for Him to work things out, and waiting is a big challenge for me. I’m often perplexed at knowing when to keep waiting, and when to move forward. The same with knowing when to speak, and when to keep quiet.
For me these things mostly come by trial and error, as opposed to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. The fact is, He is always guiding. While the big question is, am I following His guidance, or am I responding to a given situation with a carnal mind?
Oftentimes well-meaning voices will advise me to do this or that. Yet there’s no guarantee that the voices of friends are correct. Therefore I must learn for myself how to have a heart that is still and calm, while trusting in the Lord to work things out for my good.
So at this time in my life the Lord has been speaking to my spirit about what it truly means to, “Let go, and let God.” It’s a slogan I will often use, but be guilty of seldom truly adhering to.
I still need more work at learning how to be still. In other words, when to keep my mouth shut as I quietly wait under the protective wings of the Lord until the storm passes. God doesn’t want my help, He wants my heart.
D. B.
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