Oh, How the Lord is refining, refurbishing, reshaping and refreshing me to so many ways! I’ll try to record some of what He’s teaching me. Through this physical trial, He is trying me mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Great Teacher, make me a great student, attentive to Your lessons and applying them daily. As has been clear, being still and waiting are not my forte, patience is not my finest virtue. So where is the obvious place for the Vinedresser to start pruning to bring about a greater harvest?? You guessed it...
“I waited patiently for the Lord.” (Psalm 40:1)...only with His help and grace as He works patiently on me! Truth be told, I’m a work in progress for sure! I’m a major undertaking. A job only the Best could do! Thank You, God, that You are! Teach me now and teach me well, so I don’t have to keep relearning the same lessons but can use one as a block of solid stone to build up and build upon!
Waiting is much more difficult than walking (or running in my case!), for waiting requires patience, and patience is a rare virtue. We enjoy knowing that God builds hedges around His people, when we look at the hedge from the aspect of protection. But when we see it growing higher and higher until we can no longer see over it,...we can feel trapped...But God has a purpose in all of His delays. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” Psalm 37:23
Next to this verse, in the margin of his Bible, George Mueller made this note: “And the stops too.” It is a sad mistake for someone to break through God’s hedges. It is a vital principle of the Lords guidance for a Christian never to move from the spot where he is sure God has placed him, until the “pillar of cloud”(Exodus 13:21) moves. (Excerpt from the Sunday School Times)
Once we learn to wait for the Lords leading in everything, we will know the strength that finds its highest point in an even and steady walk. Many of us are lacking the strength we so desire but God gives complete power for every task He calls us to perform. Waiting- keeping yourself faithful to His leading- this is the secret of strength. And anything that does not align with obedience to Him is a waste of time and energy. Watch and wait for His leading. Samuel Dickey Gordon
Must life be considered a failure for someone compelled to stand still, forced into inaction and required to watch the great, roaring tides (great surf!) of life from shore? No-victory is then to be won by standing still and quietly waiting. Yet this is a thousand times harder to do than in the past, when I rushed headlong into the busyness of life. It requires much more courage to stand and wait and still not lose heart or lose hope, to submit to the will of God, to give up opportunities for work (which I so enjoy and am rewarded for with accolades, appreciation & a paycheck!) and leave the honors to others,& to be quiet, confident and rejoicing while the busy multitude goes happily along their way.
The greatest life is: “after you have done everything, to stand.” J. R. Miller
The best things in life are the result of being wounded... Think about it...Wheat must be crushed before it becomes bread, and incense must be burned by fire before its fragrance is set free. The earth must be broken with a sharp plow before being ready to receive the seed. And it is a broken (& contrite) heart that pleases God. (Psalm 51:17)
Yes, the sweetest joys of life are the fruits of sorrow. Human nature seems to need suffering to make it fit to be a blessing to the world. L. B. Cowman
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