Disappointments?

 

Yesterday God prompted me to think of the folly of those who put getting rich at the top of their priority list. All day I remembered this amazing promise from Jesus:

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:33–34)

And all day I was thankful that He blessed my life with abundance. Putting His righteousness at the top of the list resulted in blessings never expected. I often feel like a spoiled brat in His kingdom.

Yet this morning I woke up feeling anxious for tomorrow, for family who do not seek the Lord, and anxious for other things and commitments. I sang the truths but felt as if I didn’t mean them or believe them. The sermon yesterday was about disappointments and many of them coming from wanting the wrong things. Is my desire for the salvation of others a ‘wrong’ desire? I don’t think so. Why then this sadness?

Could it be that I wanted instant results? One unsaved family person was here — with no interest or desire in anything but what could be seen on her cell phone. But then we went to an event at church and a boy who spent much of his youth in our home was there and we had the most incredible conversation about our abundant life in Christ. I can rejoice that this boy now a man who seems more like family than some family does.

But this morning the burden for family stuck. Piper points to God and in mixing the order of these verses, reminds me that God…

… determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. . . .  His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. . . .  He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. . . . The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. (Psalm 147:3-11)

Reading them in this order seemed to calm my heart. This God who names the stars (and they do what He says) is able to deal with all whose lives are wounded, sometimes with their own sin. One person comes to mind who has been on a slippery slope for many years and is now in a slimy pit. Is there hope for her? Will this pit break the hardness of her heart?

I might as well ask if the God who tells the stars what to do can bind up her wounds. What folly to think that she is beyond His power. Yes, He could cast her to the ground, but I’m not asking for that, but thinking how He loves us even while we were sinners and I want Him to delight in the day when she hopes in His love rather than in the lure of all that is not only false but ruining her life.

PRAY: God, the burdens in my heart threaten to overwhelm me at times, even after the blessings and joy of deep and sweet fellowship with Your family and mine in the house of the Lord. Forgive me for letting those burdens overrule the peace and joy of trusting You totally and completely. You are fully able to accomplish Your will in the lives of those who seem to never give You a second thought. I know the Holy Spirit has the power to heal hearts that are broken and messed up by sin as well as other wounds. All I can say is ‘have at it’ — humble their pride and in stedfast love and mercy, bring them to their knees before Jesus.