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They that wait upon the Lord... Free Christian Image
©2009 GospelGifs |
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Original Christian artwork: Western mountain scene with eagle in flight. (You can order the poster here) The Bible says:
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; The longer we walk with God, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for all things, the more we learn that God truly is faithful. As a young believer who had experienced a few difficulties, I remember wondering if I would really be able to trust God in every situation. I would hear people testify to the faithfulness of God in all kinds of circumstances and sometime think that maybe they were exaggerating a little bit. Could God really be trusted in any time or season, in any kind of difficulty? Today, I realize how foolish I was to doubt. Not that I am always the perfect picture of faith. I still worry. I still wonder what God is up to sometimes. But I have seen in every single circumstance of life that God really is right there, able, willing and ready to help me through. Not just with feelings of hope or faith, but with real and tangible help. The simple fact is, God intervenes all the time to help His children through the circumstances and situations of life. David wrote that the afflictions of a righteous person are many — and that the Lord delivers him out of them all. A righteous person, by the way, is not some perfectly holy soul that never makes bad choices. It is anyone who has been washed clean by Jesus Christ, and who trusts God with life's daily challenges. I have witnessed the truth of God's Word in my life. Many kinds of unpleasant or undesirable things come my way. I am living in the same world as everyone else. But God does not leave me alone. He hears my prayer and He acts in many ways to help, to protect, to rescue, to keep me in every situation and circumstance that develops. The "waiting on the Lord" part can be confusing, sometimes. When we really hate where we are or what we are experiencing, we may wonder just what it means to "wait" on God. Does it mean that we should do nothing on our own to help change things? Well, yes and no. On our own is the thing we are not. So, on our own is not how we walk with God. I do not stand in faith on my own. I am a believer by God's grace, not by my own shrewd decision-making and will power. I stand and walk with the help of God. I reach my destinations in life with God's help and blessing, not because I always know the way. So, no, if we are waiting on God, we are not proceeding on our own. We are waiting for His direction, His reassurance, His leading and His wisdom. But we do not necessarily wait until everything appears safe, or for some great surge of new power, or for all the money we have hoped for before we take the next step. We walk, step in step with Jesus. The reason for every trial and test is to teach us how to walk by faith. In every trial and test, we discover that God is faithful — that He is worthy of our confidence. We learn this even if we fail to trust Him. But we really get it when we do trust Him. I hate scary events, circumstances and situations. I always want to be comfortable, safe, protected. And I am always protected when I walk with the Lord. But the protection is not always something I can see or feel. I must trust God. And this is good. It makes me review my recent choices to make sure that I have done my best to do things God's way. Have I been honest, fair, kind, forgiving, generous and loving? The verdict isn't always perfectly clear, and it isn't always in my favor. But it makes me draw closer to the Lord, trying to make things right with Him and with the people around me. Without obedience to God's Word and His will for my life, I will lack confidence. When I know, however, that I am doing things God's way, then I am more likely to trust Him with all the results, even if I can't yet see how things will really turn out. And sometimes, wait simply means wait. If the Lord has not clearly directed me to take some step of faith, then I need to just keep doing whatever I know to do, right where I am. I may not like my job or my house or my climate. I may not like the circumstances or the situation. But if God is not telling me to do something different, then I need to stand still and see the salvation of God, as Moses put it. God will act. When He does, I will know what to do next. Whoever walks with the Lord, trusting Him with all the circumstances of life, will be renewed in heart, mind and body. They will rise up on the thermal currents of life and ride along the top, no matter what is happening below or around them. God will see them through. Though death itself overtakes them, they will slip through to life everlasting, never to be hurt by death again. And in the mean time, while they yet walk this earth, the devil himself will be held back, like a junkyard dog kept by a high fence, unable to devour them though he rages and howls with all he's got. Jesus Christ is Lord, and all who trust in Him will know His strength and power to save, to protect, and to help. The above graphic may be used by Christian believers in various kinds of personal witness, for church programs, and other Christian activities. There is no charge for this use, so long as the copyright/credit info is included with the image or a link back to this site is provided. To use the graphics on this site, right click the image (Mac users hover the mouse cursor over the image) and select the "Save As" or "Save Image As" and save the file on your computer's hard drive. Images not saved to your computer will not work properly (especially animated GIF files), or will likely suffer broken links in a short time. |
