Ps. 111:2-4
"The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious: and His righteousness endureth for ever. He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion."
Who is like unto our God? Think upon Him.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Isaiah 40:31
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint."
A close friend and I discussed this passage the other day, and she brought out some thoughts that I had never considered before, but that I found to be very challenging and edifying. I share them now with you.
It is interesting to note the progression in the verse: "mount up with wings"-->"run and not be weary"-->"walk and not faint." In all three cases (whether one is soaring, running, or walking), it is the LORD Who gives the strength. Sometimes He gives us strength to soar; sometimes He gives us strength to run without growing weary; and sometimes He gives us just enough strength to walk and to not faint. He knows that we do not need to soar or to run. We need to slowly and painfully put one foot ahead of the other. We need to feel the rising faintness, and still, by His strength, not faint. We need to feel our desperate weakness. It is what we need. It is what He Who has our best interests at heart knows that we need most in order to know Him. We need strength to walk and not faint.
In times of walking, do we trust Him? Do we recognize that it is His strength which keeps us from fainting? Do we praise Him and worship Him and adore Him even as we do when by that same strength we soar with wings as eagles? Are we content to walk, and to let His strength be perfected in our weariness and weakness? Are we willing to accept His strength in times of walking, rather than proudly and coldly requesting to soar? What if walking is what we need right now? Do we take walking from His hand as readily and gratefully as mounting up with wings or running tirelessly? Let us trust our God supremely. Let us know Him and prove His faithfulness whether we soar, whether we run, or whether we walk without fainting.
A close friend and I discussed this passage the other day, and she brought out some thoughts that I had never considered before, but that I found to be very challenging and edifying. I share them now with you.
It is interesting to note the progression in the verse: "mount up with wings"-->"run and not be weary"-->"walk and not faint." In all three cases (whether one is soaring, running, or walking), it is the LORD Who gives the strength. Sometimes He gives us strength to soar; sometimes He gives us strength to run without growing weary; and sometimes He gives us just enough strength to walk and to not faint. He knows that we do not need to soar or to run. We need to slowly and painfully put one foot ahead of the other. We need to feel the rising faintness, and still, by His strength, not faint. We need to feel our desperate weakness. It is what we need. It is what He Who has our best interests at heart knows that we need most in order to know Him. We need strength to walk and not faint.
In times of walking, do we trust Him? Do we recognize that it is His strength which keeps us from fainting? Do we praise Him and worship Him and adore Him even as we do when by that same strength we soar with wings as eagles? Are we content to walk, and to let His strength be perfected in our weariness and weakness? Are we willing to accept His strength in times of walking, rather than proudly and coldly requesting to soar? What if walking is what we need right now? Do we take walking from His hand as readily and gratefully as mounting up with wings or running tirelessly? Let us trust our God supremely. Let us know Him and prove His faithfulness whether we soar, whether we run, or whether we walk without fainting.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Hunger and Thirst
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness."
"I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for Thy Commandments."
"Thy Words were found, and I did eat them, and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."
"As the hart panteth for the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee."
Should I keep going?
"O God, Thou art my God, early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is."
"My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God."
"The desire of our soul is to Thy name and to the remembrance of Thee. With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early:"
I could keep going on, but I think you understand. At least, I hope you do. O my friends, in a sense I hesitate to post this for fear of being redundant (a majority of my posts already deal with this topic), but I have to. I cannot write about anything else.
Knowing Christ. "...all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord..." All things. Loss. For Christ. Think about those words individually. Think about the passion that must grip your very soul before you can say those words truly with Paul. All things. Loss. So that I may know Christ. How can we not hunger and thirst after this? Two answers spring with equal speed to my thoughts: 1. Easily. 2. We cannot. Diametrically opposed answers. (Should this surprise me? No, not really.) The first answer would not have leaped to my mind so quickly three months ago. Why? Well, to my shame, I had begun to unwittingly walk in spiritual arrogance. It had been so long since the Lord had permitted me to go through a lengthy spiritually dry time, that I had begun to think that I sought the Lord, that I hungered and thirsted of my own volition. Ah, my foolishness! Ah, my pride! And so the Lord allowed me to go through the last two and a half months fighting for spiritual life in a heart that had suddenly gone cold and apathetic. My desire for the Word evaporated--there was none left. My joy in prayer diminished. My fellowship with my beloved Lord, became formal and/or forced. Just writing this down sends cold fingers of sorrow and dread around my heart. In myself, I cared less about spiritual things, but that tiny part of my heart would not be silent. That tiny part of my soul "still desired Him in the night." That part still had a desire to His name. That is why I was miserable. Miserable, yes; hungering and thirsting, no. And powerless to do so until my Lord did again implant that within me. And so I learned to do again what I had not done for several years: to seek without wanting to seek, to dig though I was finding no treasure, to show my Lord by my actions as well as my words that in the deepest part of me, I cannot live without Him. Until He rebuked and renewed and restored my soul two weeks ago. And the joy of restored fellowship? Indescribable. So, yes, it would be only too easy to not seek. But I still contest, how can we not seek? Knowing Christ. Everything in life comes down to that. Quote from Tozer: "God desires and is pleased to communicate with us through the avenues of our mids, our wills, and our emotions. The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the souls of redeemed men and women is the throbbing heart of the New Testament." May we go on to know Him--to truly know Him as He can be known. O be satisfied with nothing less! Know Christ! Hunger and thirst for Him. And you will be filled. He has promised it.
"I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for Thy Commandments."
"Thy Words were found, and I did eat them, and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."
"As the hart panteth for the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee."
Should I keep going?
"O God, Thou art my God, early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is."
"My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God."
"The desire of our soul is to Thy name and to the remembrance of Thee. With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early:"
I could keep going on, but I think you understand. At least, I hope you do. O my friends, in a sense I hesitate to post this for fear of being redundant (a majority of my posts already deal with this topic), but I have to. I cannot write about anything else.
Knowing Christ. "...all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord..." All things. Loss. For Christ. Think about those words individually. Think about the passion that must grip your very soul before you can say those words truly with Paul. All things. Loss. So that I may know Christ. How can we not hunger and thirst after this? Two answers spring with equal speed to my thoughts: 1. Easily. 2. We cannot. Diametrically opposed answers. (Should this surprise me? No, not really.) The first answer would not have leaped to my mind so quickly three months ago. Why? Well, to my shame, I had begun to unwittingly walk in spiritual arrogance. It had been so long since the Lord had permitted me to go through a lengthy spiritually dry time, that I had begun to think that I sought the Lord, that I hungered and thirsted of my own volition. Ah, my foolishness! Ah, my pride! And so the Lord allowed me to go through the last two and a half months fighting for spiritual life in a heart that had suddenly gone cold and apathetic. My desire for the Word evaporated--there was none left. My joy in prayer diminished. My fellowship with my beloved Lord, became formal and/or forced. Just writing this down sends cold fingers of sorrow and dread around my heart. In myself, I cared less about spiritual things, but that tiny part of my heart would not be silent. That tiny part of my soul "still desired Him in the night." That part still had a desire to His name. That is why I was miserable. Miserable, yes; hungering and thirsting, no. And powerless to do so until my Lord did again implant that within me. And so I learned to do again what I had not done for several years: to seek without wanting to seek, to dig though I was finding no treasure, to show my Lord by my actions as well as my words that in the deepest part of me, I cannot live without Him. Until He rebuked and renewed and restored my soul two weeks ago. And the joy of restored fellowship? Indescribable. So, yes, it would be only too easy to not seek. But I still contest, how can we not seek? Knowing Christ. Everything in life comes down to that. Quote from Tozer: "God desires and is pleased to communicate with us through the avenues of our mids, our wills, and our emotions. The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the souls of redeemed men and women is the throbbing heart of the New Testament." May we go on to know Him--to truly know Him as He can be known. O be satisfied with nothing less! Know Christ! Hunger and thirst for Him. And you will be filled. He has promised it.
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