As for God, His way is perfect! The word of
the Lord is tested and tried; He is a
shield to all those who take refuge and
put their trust in Him.
For who is God except the Lord? Or who is the Rock
save our God, The God who girds
me with strength and makes my way perfect? He
makes my feet like hinds’ feet [able to stand firmly or make progress on the
dangerous heights of testing and trouble]; He sets me securely upon my high
places. Psalm 18:30-33
Brothers and Sisters, all
who trust in our precious Lord Jesus,
Do you have a favorite Psalm?
The 18th is one of my favorites. As I read verses 30-33 and I was stopped.
Arrested as if I had not read them before. And this question pulsed in my mind:
“Do you really believe what you have just read?"
His way is perfect?
I know how easily it is to slip into praying our
‘will’, or our opinions or we stubbornly insist on understanding why God allowed our trial.
Believing His was is perfect leaves no room for fears, doubts, anxiety or
complaining! To coddle our fears and give into our imaginations is more than
unsettling, it is an insult to the LORD who’s ways ARE perfect whether we truly
believe it or not.
Believing, or not believing ‘truth’,
doesn’t change the truth. And thankfully it doesn’t change one very important
truth, ‘God loves us and continually pours out His grace and mercy on us’. But
believing He is all that He claims to be changes us! We know His rest and His
peace. Every day we have a choice to believe God is perfect, His ways and His
words are perfect and, (this is most often the hard part) believing that He
arms us with strength and makes our way perfect. (perfect, not easy) That He
never makes a mistake! Never! I needed to be reminded about this ‘truth’ again
this week.
He makes our way perfect. How can that which tears you apart, leaving you
shaken, fearful, grieving or rejected, be perfect? Because of who He is! If He has allowed it in your life, He
will use it in your life for good (Romans 8:28-29). That good is to create the
likeness of His Son in you, as you trust Him. And trusting Him is always a
‘choice’. In fact I think it seldom ‘feels’ like the right thing to do. Why?
Because our choice requires dying to our flesh.
I realized that in order to
grow spiritually, I must recognize my unbelief as sin and deal with it! As a
child growing up, my father often said, in his no-nonsense manner, “Call it
what it is.” No matter the trial, I am determined not to pretend that panic,
worry and anger are a normal Christian response to stress and to be expected. We
are not to live natural lives, but super-natural! Then there is the mind set
that states: ‘I just can’t help it. That’s just how I am!’
Let’s refuse to stumble
along in unbelief; rationalizing that God understands our sin. Every time I
rationalize, I believe I have missed out on some wonderful aspect the Holy
Spirit wanted to reveal to me about my heavenly Father. God longs for us to
rest in Him, trust Him! Our hope is in Him.
“Hopes have precarious
life;
They are oft blighted,
withered, snapped sheer off
In vigorous youth, and
turned to rottenness;
But faithfulness can feed
on suffering,
And knows no
disappointment.”
One second into heaven we will wonder
how we could have every doubted our precious Savior. We will lock eyes with the
One who loves and cherishes us and we will realize how immeasurably precious we
are to Him. Do you believe that? Then your feet will be dancing or you will be
flat our on your face before the throne of grace, in awe of Yeshua.
Unless believers are crucified people,
there can be no true expression of Jesus in their life. Where there is no Cross
there is no life. The object of suffering is to bring about in each believer an
abundant, Holy Spirit dependent life, which produces much fruit, and thereby
glory to God.
Rejoicing in my Savior’s perfection I
am freed from trying to be perfect and rest in His perfection, for His
perfection alone is acceptable to God.
Prayerfully,
az
