My heart’s desires...

 

My sister, now with Jesus, was my best friend. One time she went with me to take art lessons. She was not good at it, but supported me entirely. Later her work as a store owner became tiresome at times so she decided to take art lessons. Her instructor was strict and made her erase mistakes until she got it right. Eventually she was teaching classes to children and after one still life class she decided to draw a set-up none of the class had selected. It was an arrangement of hockey equipment and her drawing impressed a young man and also one of her sons. He had connections and eventually secured a contract with the NHL for his mom to do hockey art featuring major league jerseys. She wound up with a website and doing work for home teams as well.

In the meantime, I painted wildlife and animal portraits. I had an agent who sold my work, but eventually the desire to paint dwindled and I started writing. Several thousand articles later, most of them published, eventually became less of a desire. One day I saw a quilt on a magazine cover that depicted golfing and decided to make it as a gift for my husband. When finished, I was amazed at the satisfaction of creating and giving away the result. Years later, I’m still quilting and although I’ve won ribbons, I seldom show my quilts, mostly making them for people who need them. The satisfaction of giving them away has been a continual delight.

All this to say that for my sister, who loved Jesus passionately, and for myself whose delight in the Lord grew to the same, we both found the truth of this verse:

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

This does not say He will give me whatever I want, but that He gives me the ‘I wants’ — that the desires that come into my heart are from Him. For that, sis and I both knew we were doing what God wanted us to do. That didn’t mean we understood it! I was amazed at the development of her skill in both oils and pen and ink and she could not understand why I quit painting and writing to work with fabric. But since we both delighted ourselves in Jesus, it was a mutual appreciation.

Both of us learned contentment with life from our mother too. She often said, “We must need this or we would not be getting it.” The “this” was weather, hardship, good times, whatever came along. It marked her trust in Almighty God who is sovereign and her faith resulted in not fighting life but taking it as it comes. The context of the above verse is today’s praise:

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. (Psalm 37:1–6)

It goes on, mostly encouragement to not envy the prosperity of wicked people, but also has snatches of why this contentment is possible. We have a God who makes incredible promises of prosperity and blessing. He upholds us, grants abundance, generosity, and picks us up when we fall. He makes our children a blessing, gives us wisdom, puts His will in our hearts, and is our stronghold. In life is over here, we have eternal life with Him.

PRAY: Lord, my relationship with my sister is one of many examples of Your amazing goodness. It and so many other blessings fill me with wonder of You. How could I not delight in You and the  assurance I have from knowing that when this delight (that You also give me) is part of my life, then I know that what I want is from You also. You are a gracious God who puts good desires in my heart. Thank You.
 

Bad news > worry – Prayer > peace!

I tell myself that this new habit of reading news headlines on my computer before shutting it down for the night is because I want to pray for the people involved in all sorts of tragic events. However, it could be morbid curiosity. I usually fall asleep too quickly to do much praying. Besides, I detect a bit of Pharisaical self-righteousness in myself as I read about the horrid things people do that I would never do. Really?

Some news stories are truly frightening, like the riots in Germany over the G20 meetings, or the one last night about the person who tried to open an airplane door during a flight from a western USA city. We have flown out of that airport and on that airline. Worry and ‘what if’ are bad for sleeping well.

This morning, I expected a rebuke from God for my self-righteousness, but He is kind. Instead of addressing that bad attitude, He spoke to me about the knots most news stories put in my stomach . . .

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” (Psalm 37:1–6)

Yesterday my husband said Psalm 37 is the best Psalm in the Bible. Today, I can say it was a perfect reading because these first six verses put scary headlines into perspective.

They also remind me of two New Testament passages about anxiety. The first has been a reliable way of life for me, right from the day God brought me into His family. I had little income and welcomed these verses of assurance. God would take care of me. My part has been to focus on His kingdom and His righteousness . . .

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:25–33)

God takes care of my physical needs in many amazing ways.  

The other passage is about those inner needs, like not being afraid, having peace, knowing His blessing on my inner life just as He takes care of my closet and pantry . . .

“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:5–7)

I’m to be a gracious person and there is good motivation for that; God is right here with me, even in those anxious moments when life seems overwhelming. Instead of worrying or letting stress get the best of me, I’m to pray. This includes asking Him to take care of things, but also being thankful rather than continually focusing on what is wrong, what I don’t have, and all the other negatives that happen in life (and in the news). When I do that, He pours His indescribable peace into my heart and mind, a peace that overrides circumstances and often makes no sense.

Last week we told a Christian friend that one of our family members is moving from South Korea to Sweden. The friend said, “Will you worry about her less in that place than the other one?”

She is a serious worrier and this was a serious question. My response was open-mouthed surprise. All I could think of was, “We don’t worry about her.” I should have reminded her what she already knew, that we pray often for our family. As Philippians says, worry makes no sense when God offers peace.

I’m not to let life, and the news about life, get the best of me. God is in sovereign control and will work out His plans, not only for my life, but for everyone on the planet. He does it for family; why not everyone else?

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, it occurs to me that if I pray about the news while still at the keyboard, I’m less likely to doze off in a state of anxiety over those awful headlines. I know You want me to pray without ceasing, and pray about everything — with thanksgiving — and am grateful for Your gentle reminder that being anxious is not part of Your plan for my life! Instead, You provide incredible peace as I bring all my worries to You.

“My times are in your hand . . .”

Every time I read the newspaper or open the news app on my computer, I am dismayed at so many horrible reports. Not only are people killing people, accidents and mishaps also take lives. Many people are afraid to go places because of so many threats in the world.

In the Old Testament, David’s safety concern centered on enemies who persecuted him. He asked God, “You are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. (Psalm 31:1; 3-4) Later, he wrote God’s answer to his prayer:

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” (Psalm 37:1–6)

God comforted David by telling him his enemies would not live forever; their days were numbered. This is sometimes a comfort for me too. Wicked people are no different than anyone else. They cannot harm others forever.

The psalm goes on in that theme, but also reminds readers that God will bless His people even while their enemies are alive. He says . . .

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright; their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance. But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives; for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” (Psalm 37:7–25)

Our struggles with the ‘right now’ and our inability to see the eternal outcome often includes comparisons. We feel we have ‘so little’ compared to the ‘abundance’ of wicked people, or are ill rather than healthy, sad rather than happy, but God repeatedly promises to take care of His people. Our times are in His hand.

As Fortner says, all the ups and downs of life, including health and sickness, prosperity and adversity, wealth and poverty, happiness and sorrow — are in the hands of our Lord and Redeemer. He appoints the length of our days and the darkness of our nights according to will. He is wise. Our times of refreshing are also in His hands.

We face the simple perils of aging and God comforts me with the fact that “my life will not close until the hand of my Father’s love closes it. I shall not die before my time and I shall not be forgotten and left on the stage of time too long.”

^^^^^^^

Oh Lord Jesus, how I thank You that not only are my times are in Your hands, so is everything else. All that happens in my life (and in this world) are in Your hands. I can cast all anxieties on You, because You care for me. (1 Peter 5:7) You keep me in perfect peace when my mind leans on You. I can trust in You forever, for You, the Lord God, are an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26:3–4)