Wait?

On July 17, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 25: 4 – 5          God’s Word

Make your ways known to me, O Lord, and teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me because you are God, my savior. I wait all day long for you.

For many years now, this has been my prayer, that the Lord would teach me and show me his ways. Like many lovers, Yahweh and I have “our” song and its lyrics are these very words. Father has been faithful to lead me by His wisdom. None the less, I don’t know His ways and His thoughts as much as I would like. Today, I have found the reason. I have quoted the fourth verse for many years but for those with eyes to see and ears to year, there is a kicker at the end of the fifth verse; “I wait all day long for you.”

I remember the year I joked with my pastor that I was going to give God a watch for Christmas. Father God does not live on the same time standard which I do, and yet, His time is always perfect. I live on USA time. What is that? It is hurry, hurry, rush, rush, rush. It is impatient and NOW. What is this “wait all day long” business about? Are you kidding me? We want our answers now.

I will confess that this has been one of the biggest challenges of my spiritual life. I experience so much revelation when I take a week away from my “real” life because I take the time to sit outside, decompress and listen to the voice of my Father. It’s not truly that He is late, it’s that I must slow down enough to hear.

Do you know that everything has its own vibrational frequency? Your internal organs each have a specific frequency. I wonder if the frequency of my Father’s voice, frequency being the rate of the sound waves, is slower than the rate at which I run. Perhaps we need to slow down and match His vibration so that we can hear His voice. It’s like my life runs at a speed of 50 but His voice is 25. Does that make sense? Can we see that our pace of life can outrun the leading of the Lord? On the one hand we pray, Father, show us how we should proceed, show us your path, but then we start running so fast that the answer to that very prayer gets swept up in our wake; never heard, never attended.

I am not trying to fool anyone. I don’t like waiting any more than anyone else, but when I want to complain that Father has not answered my prayer or hasn’t given me direction, I realize that He has been speaking, but I did not hear.

My life is probably not that different from yours. It is a cacophonous barrage of things to do, calls to make, responsibilities, etc. The noise of my life is deafening at times. You are busy too! I have learned one thing though, busy is a four-letter word!

God is faithful. He is answering us right now. Maybe we both need to learn to wait a few minutes to get divine direction before we get lost in the tall weeds again this week. Maybe if we pause, even for a moment, we will hear our beloved’s guiding words. Will you join me in halting briefly this Monday morning as we begin yet another week, to wait and hear the voice of our God and Father? Can we show enough honor to our own lives, and for our personal value, to wait upon the Lord? Isn’t He worth it? Aren’t we?

I pray, in the name of Jesus, that you hear His voice today, that you hear the words of guidance and instruction as you begin a new week, and that in waiting you are blessed, encouraged and profited. In His name, Amen.

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Know Me

On April 12, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 25: 4 – 5

Make me know Thy ways, O Lord; Teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth and teach me.

How much easier would your life be if you knew God’s ways and walked in His paths? There is a song the lyrics of which are, “Show me your ways, that I may walk with you.” It has been a favorite of mine for years. I wonder if the writer got the inspiration for that song from this verse.

The first thing I thought about today as I read this verse is that in order to make this a reality we need to be teachable. Generally, I find we are not. It is a genuine delight to find someone who is hungry enough to be teachable. They are fun because they absorb everything you say and demand more. They are insatiable. They want to know the Father and all of His ways so they have made themselves teachable.

Most of us want the Lord to teach us and well, we would be foolish if we didn’t, but the rub comes when He sends a person to be the teacher. Then our egos flare and we become more intent on showing what we know instead of listening to them. That is one of the problems with a lot of our prayers. The Father answers them but sometimes in unexpected ways. Then we don’t recognize it as God’s response to our prayer and end up rejecting it. He who has ears to hear. . .. We do this more than we know. We have our mind already made up to the form the answer will take so we push away everything else.

The other problem with God answering this prayer is that we have to take the time to hear Him and that can present a challenge. The good news is that practicing listening to Him really does improve your hearing. How do you expect God to make His ways known to you? How is He to teach you and lead you?

We need to prepare ourselves to receive the answer to this prayer. First, expect Him to answer this prayer. It is His intention. The ideas posed in this verse were His ideas first. Now, if you expect Him to answer, then how are you going to receive your answer? If you are playing football and want to receive a pass, you need your hands ready and your eyes looking. If you are playing baseball, you probably want a glove. The point is to prepare yourself for His reply.

Be wise, keep your eyes open for a person God may send your way, a gospel song, or a message from a minister. These are some of the vehicles God may use to teach and lead you. Be renewed in your Spirit, renew your mind and receive His blessing. Be fully persuaded that He is going to lead you and teach you and you will discover that you are right.

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Byways and Highways

On March 16, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 25: 4 – 5                         Index Card 2

Make me know thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth and teach me.

Well, I figure if I can know God’s ways, walk in His paths; if He leads me in truth and teaches me, then I will pretty much have it made. Whenever I don’t know what to do; whenever I am overwhelmed with the enormity of a assignment, or a too long task list, I fall back on this verse.

The Bible gives us all of these rich verses and they are to me like taking a magic tonic. Whatever my situation, there is always a Bible pill I can take and I immediately feel better. There is a verse for every woe, every worry and every ailment. When we endeavor to know God’s ways, allowing Him to lead us and teach us, then we always have what we need for the occasion. Our cup is filled and overflowing because He leads us to the land overflowing with milk and honey.

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