do not let your hearts be troubled
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:4 NKJV
Today as my brother spends another birthday in prison, I read this passage from today's My Utmost for Your Highest devotional.
And I think about all the ways I've failed the Lord, yet how He has never, ever failed me. How much it comforts me to know without fail He will never leave me, never despise me, and always forgives me. How much He loves me. How many good gifts He has given to me.
I know well what it's like to feel the sting of judgment, the hurt of rejection. Each time it happens the Lord reminds me that I am no better; that I have judged others, hurt others just as much. We will let each other down, and we'll do it again. The Lord is the only one who will never let us down.
Rather than to leave us in a place of hurt and grief over the past, I believe the Lord allows these times to guide us down the path He has marked for us. Sometimes we keep going down a path He hasn't planned for us. Walking out of His will leads to heartache, and that applies to blatant sin as much as making your own choices about what ministry you will do, if He hasn't called you to it.
Or sometimes He calls you on from ministries because - get this - He has something better for you. He sees your hurts, your frustrations. I want Him to use me but I also want to tell Him how to use me. The Lord has been so gracious to me and has let me do so many things in ministry I have asked Him for. I will always be so grateful. Yet we see dimly through a glass. It makes me laugh how much I will hold onto something while the Lord is like 'if you will just trust me you will see how much better my plan is for you.' If you find yourself in a place where you do not want to surrender, than surrender must happen.
Surrender your hurts and your plans to him. Allow the Spirit of the Living God to invade you. Ask Him today to let you feel how much He loves you.
I know you've heard it all before. But today, when my heart is heavy and hurting, there is no greater comfort to me to remember the words of Jesus to His disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." John 14:1 NIV
His plans are always so much better than ours. They really are. When my heart is heavy, and the tears cloud my eyes, this is when I will declare my trust in the Lord. Nothing can change that.
Whatever it is that troubles your heart today, remember these words from Solomon, and from his father David as well:
"I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing can be taken from it."
Ecclesiastes 3:14a NKJV
My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 62: 5-8 NKJV