Pastor has been speaking for the past few weeks about “The Learning Curve”, using different stories from the Bible featuring Joseph and how his “learning curve” experiences earlier in his life prepared him for what would befall him later in life. And it’s certainly true that, at one time or another, we’ve all experienced a learning curve. But, the question is: do we truly “learn” from the “curve”?
My “curve” began five years ago, when my life took a turn that I never expected. Suffice it to say that the experience was not something I would wish on my worst enemy. To say that my life was turned upside down would be not be an exaggeration. I made some of the hardest decisions I have every had to make in my life, and just when I thought I had let go of things, God told me that I had to let go even more. Talk about a curve…
As part of my personal daily devotions, I read a chapter of Psalms and a chapter of Proverbs daily. Proverbs is easy…there are 30 or 31 days in the month, and an equal number of chapters. Psalms is more problematic, but once I am at Psalm 150, I simply start over. I have read through the Book of Psalms probably 6-7 times of the past few years. Today’s Psalm was number 37, and as many times as I have read that chapter through, these words did not speak to me like they did today:
Pslam 37: 1-7
1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
A frequent prayer of mine concerns the desire of my heart. But, as you can see by the verse, it is conditional on my “delighting” myself in Him. In looking up this word, one of the most common Hebrew terms is “hepes”, meaning “to bend towards, be inclined towards (an object or a person). So, I should be reaching towards God.
“Commit” is another conditional word that occurs in this passage. It means “to give in trust or charge”, “to bind or obligate”, “to pledge
“Trust” is the final conditional word, and boy is it ever a big one! In my mind, trust and faith are always linked. Trust is defined as “confident expectation of something; hope” and “relying on the strength, integrity, and ability of a person”. Hebrews 1:11 says that faith is substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And the acronym I like to use certainly fits:
F-Forsaking
A-All
I-I
T-Trust
H-Him
In a nutshell, I should be trusting Him, too.
I don’t claim to be a “super-Christian”. In fact, many days, I am not sure that my prayers, let along the “desires of my heart” make it two inches over my head on their way to Heaven. The adage “let go and let God” would work really well if I could just pry my hands off that one last detail that I want to help God with.
But today, God made it very clear, in no uncertain terms, that I need to camp on this bit of Scripture. Not only was the one I read in my devotions, but the same passage was highlighted in a daily devotional that I receive through my email. And if that wasn’t clear enough, a friend told me that they had been praying for me and asking God to send me a rhema (“a word”) that He is still on the move, on the throne, and well aware of my heart’s desire.
OK, God….I get it.
~Barb Scott
