Delighting in the Lord

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Tonight I went for a walk with my little guy... not a fast-paced one like we normally do, but a nice leisurely one where I could really enjoy myself as I talked to God about different things. I found after awhile that I was repeatedly asking Him for things I desired, whether it was regarding my relationship with Him, my relationship with my husband and son, my weight loss journey, or things that might come in the future. I felt a little guilty about this... almost like I was coming to my Savior with a "honey-do list" rather than with thankfulness and admiration. I confessed this to God, and He immediately gave me the verse that appears above.

Psalm 37:4 isn't new to me; I've read it over and over again for years now. But tonight it held a different meaning. For the first time, my focus was on the first part of the verse rather than the second part. I realized that the first part, "Delight yourself in the Lord," is a directive. It's a command we can actively pursue in obeying everyday of our lives. And the upshot of following this command is God fulfilling the desires of our heart.

So let's take this thing apart for a second. First, how do we delight ourselves in the Lord? I'm sure this looks different for every child of God, but here's what I came up with for me:

• Searching Him out by reading His word and talking to Him, and being excited about what He's showing me.
• Thanking Him for even the smallest blessings and victories.
• Making Him the first thing on my mind in the morning and the last thing on my mind before I go to sleep at night.
• Praising Him even in the midst of a storm.

I'm sure anyone's list changes and adds on to itself as we walk the path He lays out for us; ask God how you may delight in Him and how to carry that out practically.

Second, is it okay that sometimes "delighting" actually feels more like a duty or obligation? As someone who struggles with this a lot, I certainly think so. As long as we're in these flesh-covered vessels, our first instinct may often be to slack off, or worse, take delight in something other than our Creator. That's why we need Jesus so badly; without Him it's impossible to even have a relationship with God, much less delight in Him. I think in general, we can still delight in something, but work hard to attain it, and then even harder to maintain it. For instance, I had a desire in high school to learn how to play guitar. I was on my way to fulfilling that desire my freshman year of college when I received a guitar as a Christmas present from my parents. It would have been wonderful if I had been one of those prodigies that could just pick up that instrument and immediately strum out numerous chords (not to mention showing off those wicked callouses). But I had to work at it... and for a few years I did, faithfully going through beginner's guitar books, looking up chords, and seeking help from friends who were more musically inclined than I was. Granted, I haven't picked up my guitar in awhile now, but I hope to someday get better at it. The point is, most things we delight in doing also take diligence, patience, and hard work; delighting in the Lord is no different. Even though we love Him and desire to follow after Him with all our hearts, most of the time this will might look more like an effort rather than a natural impulse. So don't worry if this delighting thing isn't the most natural thing ever... it takes time and hard work. Ask God to help you and to give you the stamina to keep at it!

Finally, one of my more burning questions: What if I still don't get the desires of my heart? The verse makes it sound like the whole process is automatic; we delight in the Lord, He gives us what we want. But we know that isn't always the case. Just know that if God says "no" or "wait on that" regarding a particular desire, it doesn't necessarily mean you did something wrong. If our actions always dictated their own outcomes, we wouldn't even need to depend on God (and worse, we'd start trying to delight in Him strictly in order to get what we want). Our desires can be pure and selfless, but God may still say "no." That just means He was something better for us that what we are currently desiring in our hearts. Think about it. If God automatically fulfilled every desire we had in our hearts, we would marry the first person we were attracted to. We would go to the first college that looked good to us. We would take that first job we were offered. Now for some people, these things actually worked out this way, but for most of us, God gave us a "no" and instead directed us toward something even better.

We need to align our hearts with His so that His desires become our desires. And what better way to do that than to grow closer to Him by delighting in Him? So why not think and pray more on this delighting thing? May our ultimate motive in delighting in our Savior be to bring glory to His name and to learn how to love Him as He guides us toward the better way.

Living Water

"Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation." Isaiah 12:3

Isaiah 12 is a brief but poignant chapter that focuses on thanksgiving. In the previous chapter, Isaiah prophesies about the reign of Jesus and how His faithful remnant will be restored. Such words of promise can only lead to songs of praise!

In verse 3, the prophet says that because God is our salvation and we have no reason to fear, we will "joyously draw water from the springs of salvation." I noticed in my Bible that the phrase "draw water" had a couple of New Testament references as well, both in the Gospel of John:

• John 4:10: Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well and tells her that living water comes from God.
• John 7:37-38: Jesus cries out in the midst of a feast, saying "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me...'from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"

Furthermore, the phrase "spring of salvation" has another Old Testament reference, this time in the book of Jeremiah:

• Jeremiah 2:13: God says through His prophet Jeremiah that His people have forsaken Him, "the fountain of living waters," and have made their own cisterns that have no hope of holding any water.

Guess you can already tell that there is a theme here. LIVING WATER shows up in all these verses. Which got me thinking...how would we explain the term "living water" to the average person? This is my weak attempt at doing so:

• The water we draw from His springs of salvation is living water. It comes from Jesus Himself; His death and resurrection allowed us access to the living water. We draw from His spring with both JOY (Isaiah 12:3) and BELIEF since we obtain the living water by believing in Jesus (John 7:37). It is active and constant, and flows through our hearts. We have a thirst that can only be quenched by a constant supply of living water. Living water brings us not only salvation, but a deeper revelation of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God Himself. Forsaking the true Source of living water causes drought in our lives, and attempting to find it on our own (via "broken cisterns") also leads to drought.

In short...God saves us when we believe in His name; that's the first time we draw His living water from His springs of salvation. However, in order to see deeper revelations of His love, mercy, grace, and other aspects of His character and His relationship with us, we need to be constantly drawing from that spring. Much like actual water, we don't find satisfaction (or even the ability to continue existing!) by just one isolated drink. We draw living water from His spring by prayer, meditation on His words, and reading His Word. And if we maintain a full cup of His living water on a daily basis, we can't help but spill that water out onto other people through humble service, encouraging words, and the exercising of our spiritual gifts.

So seek after that living water that can only come from Him. Allow your thirsty spirit to partake of the only water that will truly satisfy. And remember, one drink is never enough!

"My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1

And we are filled with joy!

"The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad!" Psalm 126:3

So God led me back to Psalm 126 this morning. The last two verses of this psalm were the focus of a post from last month, and lo and behold, I'm back there again. Shocker.

This time, however, the remaining verses are my focus. The psalm itself is brief. Just six verses, equivalent to volumes and volumes of wisdom and insight into God's character and our walk with Him. The psalmist is offering praise to God for "return from captivity," and also asks for restoration for whatever was seemingly lost during that time of captivity ("Restore our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the South" verse 4). After a season of captivity and hardship, there comes a season of joyfulness and restoration.

During the past twenty-four hours, God has revealed Himself to me in such a special way in the lives of two couples I know. I don't call myself close friends with either couple, but we have enough of a friendship for me to be aware of their struggles and hopes. Both of these couples experienced difficulty having a child of their own, and then experienced the agony of waiting for a child to come their way through adoption. In both cases, their faith remained strong and they were such an encouragement to me. Yesterday I received news that one couple was finalizing an adoption of a precious baby boy, and the other was going to pick up their own baby boy today. I feel such joy for these friends and am amazed at God's perfect timing and sovereignty.

God showed me through this that times of joy will always follow times of weeping. He will restore whatever we think we lost during times of captivity, and in EVERY case we'll find that He gives us more than we ever thought possible. He mourns with us and rejoices with us, and I have no doubt that when He led these friends of mine to their babies, He had a HUGE smile on His face.

If you find yourself in a season of mourning right now, God is there with you. He has already laid plans for you and will lead you out in His perfect timing. And He will restore what was lost during that time of captivity. Lean on Him and allow this trial to draw you closer to Him.

If you find yourself in a season of joy, God is there with you. He rejoices with you, but also longs for you to share your joy with Him. Lean on Him and allow your joyful shouting to praise His name.

No matter where you find yourself, remember that God is good....ALL THE TIME!

Arrogant Axes

"Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?" Isaiah 10:15

In the tenth chapter of Isaiah, God turns His anger on the Assyrians, a nation that He initially uses as His "instrument" to attack His own people because of their prideful ways. Apparently arrogance is a universal thing, no matter who you are or who you follow, because God speaks these words through Isaiah concerning the Assyrian ruler: "I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness" (verse 12). The king gives himself credit for everything his nation has plundered and destroyed, saying, "by the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this" (verse 13). God compares the king's blatant and unapologetic pride to an axe that "boasts itself over the one who chops with it" in verse 15. An axe, like any other inanimate object, cannot perform its purpose without a more powerful entity taking it up and manipulating it in such a way as to create a result. An axe cannot chop wood by itself. Similarly, the nation of Assyria, and more specifically its king, could not have successfully invaded and plundered Israel without God's intervention.

Granted, the hearts of the Assyrians are hardened; Isaiah even says that the nation does not "intend" to trample God's people, but does so because "it is its purpose to destroy and to cut off many nations" (verse 7). Much like it is the axe's purpose to cut wood, it is the Assyrians' purpose to destroy; they face their own destruction because of their haughtiness and godlessness. However, we as God's children can learn from this mistaken way of thinking; in fact, it is the Israelites' pride that caused the Assyrians' attack to begin with (see previous post and Isaiah 9:8-21). Exalting ourselves for the blessings God gives us is not only wrong, but harmful to our relationship with Him. We become deluded into thinking that we have everything under control and can do anything using our own power and devices. Remember the vine and the branches? Jesus said, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing" (John 15:5). God wants to use us for His purposes, and it can be very exciting to see just what we're capable of with His help and grace. But the minute we choose to take credit for what He's done or to exalt ourselves using the gifts He gives us, we become no better than the Assyrians. Our hearts will become hard and we will bring about our own destruction.

Ask God for His help; come before Him as His child who is helpless without Him. Bring Him your empty hands to be filled with His gifts, and ask Him what He would have you do for His kingdom. And most important, exalt the One who allows you to represent Him in such wonderful and astounding ways. Remember, we are but axes who need powerful hands to fulfill a great purpose; apart from Him we can do nothing.

Cedars and Smooth Stones

"The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with smooth stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars." Isaiah 9:10

Ever tried to go your own way instead of God's? For me, it's an everyday struggle to lay my so-called "best-laid" plans at His feet, as well as to resist snatching them back up once He reveals what He actually has in mind for me!

We walk a dangerous path when we choose not to ask God for His direction and will for our lives. The book of Proverbs even goes as far as to say, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (14:12 AND 16:25. That's right, it appears twice. Must be important then, huh?). Let's face it, God knows what's best for us. The sooner we figure that out and apply it in our daily lives, the better off we'll be and the closer we'll be to Him.

In the ninth chapter of Isaiah, God's people walked the path of arrogance to the point where prophecies of death and destruction were foretold about them. In verse 10, they ignore a message from God that says they are too prideful, and then attempt to rebuild structures using different materials, trading smooth stones for bricks and cedars for sycamores. The Message translation puts it this way: "Things aren't that bad. We can handle anything that comes. If our buildings are knocked down, we'll rebuild them bigger and finer. If our forests are cut down, we'll replant them with finer trees." Rather than turn back to their God who has delivered them time and time again, they ignore His warnings and instead try to prove that they can take care of themselves without His help. All we have to do is read further to see that this arrogance greatly angers God and they encounter the grave consequences of their pride and of their unwillingness to depend on Him. They confirm the truth that we read two different times in Proverbs; their way certainly leads to death.

I'm not saying that if you decide to go play tennis instead of reading your Bible, God's going to strike you down right there on the court mid-serve. However, I am saying that there are always consequences to ignoring God and instead doing what we think is right. We may choose a more precarious path that causes us to stumble, we may walk the path alone instead of with others who could have benefited from our companionship, or we may find ourselves at a dead end and completely lost. Gratefully, God is very merciful and more often than not He disciplines like a father would His child (Deuteronomy 8:5). We serve a God of love, and He disciplines us out of His love for us: "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, therefore be zealous and repent" (Revelation 3:19). Allow Him to teach you through His discipline so in time it will become easier and more second-nature to ask Him for His direction before you take a step. Remember that our ultimate goal in everything we do should be to glorify God; He would know best of all how to help us glorify Him, so why not ask Him first?

"Lead me, O Lord...make straight Your way before me." Psalm 5:8

"'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8

"Commit to the Lord whatever You do, and Your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:3

Lasting

"If you will not believe, you surely shall not last." Isaiah 7:9a

In the seventh chapter of Isaiah, the prophet is given words from the Lord to give to Ahaz, the king of Judah. Rival kings are threatening Judah with almost-certain invasion and war, and the Lord tells Ahaz through the prophet Isaiah to "take care and be calm" (verse 4), and that ultimately the evil plan "shall not stand nor shall it come to pass" (verse 7). However, He also provides a warning to the king in verse 9, saying "If you will not believe, you surely shall not last."

Interesting word, "last." My bible has a sidenote that says the phrase "be established" can be used in place of it. So if Ahaz does not believe, he shall not "be established." Here we see the true consequences of unbelief: not only will we see our demise (the end), it will be as if we never got established (the beginning) in the first place!

We see something similar in 2 Chronicles 20. In this case, Judah is also facing invasion of their enemies. King Jehoshaphat fervently prays to God before an assembly of his people, saying, "we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You" (verse 12). His prayers are answered when the Spirit of the Lord falls on a man named Jahaziel, who says that this battle is not theirs but the Lord's, and that if they face this great multitude He will be with them (verses 14-17). When the people of Judah go to fight their enemies, Jehoshapat reminds them, "put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed" (verse 20). Appointed worshippers go out before them and praise the name of God, causing their enemies to ultimately destroy one another.

Two different kings facing very similar circumstances. Both instances involve possible conflict, a seemingly hopeless situation, and a call to believe and not fear. Jehoshaphat chose to believe God and to take Him at His word, therefore he succeeded and his kingdom was established in the Lord's name. If we believe God even in the midst of battle, we will be established in His eternal kingdom; what else can possibly last that long?

One more important point. Notice that it was only after the appointed singers started worshipping that their enemies began to destroy each other (see 2 Chronicles 20:21-23). Often God calls us to go that extra mile in the midst of a trial. It is one thing to believe Him, and it is another to believe AND worship Him no matter what the circumstances. We often face difficult situations in order to stretch us and to strenghthen our belief; why not use these times to stretch our worship muscles as well?

This chapter of Isaiah does not reveal the outcome of this impending war against Judah. Without further reading, we can't be sure right now whether Ahaz chooses to take Jehoshaphat's example and believe that God will take care of him, or whether he simply chooses to take matters into his own hands.

One thing is certain, we can all relate to Ahaz's situation. We all endure times of struggle that ultimately lead to a crossroads where the signs read "BELIEF" or "UNBELIEF" and face opposite directions. Which way will you choose?

Holy Stumps

In the sixth chapter of Isaiah, the prophet himself receives a vision from the Lord in which angels cleanse his mouth with coal and tell him his sins are forgiven. And when he hears the voice of the Lord asking, "Whom shall I send?" he readily volunteers. What follows is Isaiah's commission, along with some terrifying prophecies from the Lord.

God describes the majority of people as having "insensitive hearts, dull ears, and dim eyes" that prevent them from understanding His words and returning to be healed (verse 10). Because of their lack of knowledge and their refusal to change the status quo of their hearts, great destruction and desolation will take place until the "forsaken places are many in the midst of the land" (verse 12). However, God then describes a "tenth portion" left behind that actually resonates with the remnant described earlier in Isaiah 4. Here is the verse in its entirety:

"Yet there will be a tenth portion in it [the land], and it will again be subject to burning, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump" (6:13, NASB).

Notice that this remnant, though surviving the first burning, will suffer a second burning until only the stumps remain. The NIV says "it will again be laid waste," leaving no doubt that this tenth portion will also suffer devastation. Seems kind of hopeless, doesn't it? If it weren't for that last sentence in verse 13, this would indeed be a very somber prophecy. That little sentence, "The holy seed is its stump," offers hope and restoration for God's people.

Consider the idea of "holy seed." My bible references Deuteronomy 7:6 to expand upon this idea. In this verse, God is speaking through Moses in order to tell His people who they are in Him. He says that they are "a holy people to the Lord" and that God has "chosen [them] to be a people for His own possession [or special treasure]." To be "holy" means to be set apart. So in Isaiah's prophecy, those "stumps" with the "holy seed" are not doomed to face complete destruction. Sure, they will undergo painful trials of fire ("subject to second burning"), but they will not be wiped out completely. If the stumps remain, the roots remain. And as long as those roots dig deep into God's love and provision, these stumps will grow and rise up again as God's special treasures. But if the root dig into the dry land of unbelief, bitterness, and hopelessness, the stump will rot.

Maybe you're facing a painful trial right now. Or you're dreading the next painful trial to come. Or you're fearing the most painful trials of all that are sure to come as our prayers hasten the day of the Lord and the tribulations that precede it. This may sound weird, but remember the stumps of Isaiah's vision. They experienced multiple burnings but still contained holy seed, allowing them to grow again as long as their roots were in the right place. Ask Him for renewed eyes and ears to increase your knowledge of Him, as well as a sensitive heart in order to understand and accept that knowledge. Dig deep into His love, allow yourself to be healed, and know that He is never surprised by what happens to us. And though He may allow pain and trials into our lives, He will always leave a remnant for us to grow on. And we will be stronger because of it.

"For there is hope for a tree, when it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its shoots will not fail." Job 14:7