The Journey (cont)

April 16, 2010

“Trust in the Lord, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

 ~Proverbs 37:3-4

I used to think that if you trusted in the Lord, and leaned on Him, etc. that He would then give you the “desires of your heart” as a reward for being faithful.  But I’m coming to learn that if we truly do the first 3 lines of this section of Psalm 37, our desires will no longer be for the selfish things we want, but for the Lord Himself.

O Lord,

You are the fulfillment of my every need.  You gave Your life that I might have everything.  You are everything.  You are all I need.  Help me give up my desires, burn them in the fire of Your love until all that is left is You.  I want to desire You alone.  I want You to fill my life completely.  I want so much of You that I cannot contain You within myself.  I give the desires of my heart to You—namely, a baby and any future family plans.  Burn them until all that is left is You.  I love You, and I want Your love to be enough for me, every minute of every day.  In Your precious Name, Amen.

May 7, 2010

“And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the LORD.  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them.  I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers.  And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.  Therefore say to the children of Israel: “I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.  I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.  Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.  And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage; I am the LORD”.’  So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.”  ~Exodus 6: 2-9

The Israelites were on the verge of an incredible ride with God.  They were about to witness His character in phenomenal ways.  They were just given His personal promise of redemption, yet they were so caught up in their current circumstances that they missed the comfort of God’s hand.  They were gasping for air even though God had just offered them the breath of life.

Am I so focused on me and my life that I miss God’s offer of milk and honey?  He longs to reveal Himself to me, to encourage me, to walk with me.  Am I looking for Him and trusting in Him, or am I just gasping for air?

Lord, I want to know You.  Not just one aspect of You, but You.  Help me to see you in every minute of every day.  May I not miss any revelation of Yourself.  Amen

Interestingly, it was about this time that I spoke with a friend at a baby shower casually about her job.  She works with the foster care system in our State, and she spoke to me about the great need for families to take in these children.  She even somewhat jokingly, somewhat seriously, asked if I would be interested.  If I recall, I gave her an emphatic "No."  Little did I know that God had other plans...