Recently in my life I have been in a very stressful situation... a situation I would not wish on any human enemy (and I really mean that)... Sunday night, while the pastor was preaching, I was listening (your welcome, Brian) and he said something that hit me. He asked a question, "How does God feel about you right now?" My brain took that and flipped it into "how do I feel about God right now?" I have to be honest, I have dealt with some anger and bitterness towards God for allowing this situation to happen and for putting me in it. I have taken those feelings to Him and allowed Him to heal and redeem, but I still was stressing about a meeting the next morning. I began to not pay attention to the sermon (sorry Brian) and I began to pray. I began to cry out to God for wisdom, for Him to tell me exactly what He expected of me the next day. I knew that if I just knew what He wanted, if I obeyed, everything would be ok. It's as if my obedience was paramount not just for me, but for the whole situation. I began to ask for wisdom.
The Bible says that if you lack wisdom, ask for it, and it will be given to you and that's exactly what happened. I thought, where is the wisdom in the Bible? Proverbs! And then I skipped over Proverbs and went to Ecclesiates. He led me right to where I needed to go to hear what He wanted me to do in the meeting.
Ecc. 4:6 "Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind."
And then I pulled a Gideon and said to God, "umm... what?" He answered in the next chapter.
Ecc. 5:2 "Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few."
Ok, I said to God... I think I've got it now... You just want me to be quiet and let other people do the talking.... um.... why? Again, He answered two chapters over.
Ecc. 7:13-14 "Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future."
I began to understand. God has orchestrated these events, has allowed these things to happen, who am I to try and step in and "fix" it when I can stand back and let the Author set things back to His liking? I'm no one, I'm a vessel of the Lord of lords. I'm not to step into His world and tell Him how to act or how I think things ought to be. They are His.
And so I was silent in the meeting and I knew in my spirit that I walked away from it blameless in the eyes of God because I obeyed His commands to me regarding that very specific situation. Glory to God on high who gives direction and understanding to His children when they ask and obey!!!
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