Richard Sims

Waiting and Trusting

If you're a believer, then chances are you've read Isaiah 40:27-31 before. My high school, the Northside Eagles, used it on our FCA t-shirts. It's printed on just about everything in any Christian bookstore. I know, I've been in a few.

But today as I read those words, God really spoke to me. Some of us are out there trying to live a life that's pleasing to God, trying to do what's right when the rest of the world doesn't care, and we're tired. Some of you have been praying and praying and praying, and God hasn't responded, at least not the way you want him to. Maybe there are areas of your life where you've been struggling to have the patience to wait on God's timing. When all of those feelings start creeping in, it's easy to begin to doubt that God will do anything.

Then we start reading Isaiah 40:27-31. God does hear our prayers. God does know what's best. God's going to provide for me, when he's good and ready. (God is never in a hurry, and he's never late.) How could I ever doubt any of that? After all, God is the Creator of the universe.

When we get tired, when we start to doubt, when we pray and God says "wait," or even "no," God is there to provide us with his strength; strength to do, strength to wait, and strength to trust. When we don't have the strength or the patience or the faith, all we have to do is lean hard into the One who has all the strength, patience and faith we'll ever need.

A Time to Learn, A Time to Trust

One of the most comforting passages in the Bible is Romans 8:28. No matter what happens in the lives of those who love God and are fitting into his plans, God will turn it around for good. He's not promising to make us happy (after all, the guy who wrote this would eventually be beheaded in Rome) but to fulfill his purpose in us and in the world. This verse reminds us that no matter what happens, it didn't take God by surprise, God is in control, and he loves you more than you can ever know.

Twice I have had the job, or really the privilege, of sitting with parents while doctors told them that their teenage child did not survive a car accident. Those conversations are etched on my heart. But there's one thing I learned: tragedy is not the time to learn, it's the time to trust what you've already learned.

So if you have a friend who is facing a tragedy, now may not be the time they want to hear you spouting a lot of verses about how they should be feeling. If that's the case, just love them and be there for them.

If things are going well with you right now, it's time to learn and accept the promise that God loves you, that nothing bad in your life will take him by surprise, and that he is in control and working things out. Learn that now.

And when the bad times come, trust in those truths. You can, because you already accepted them in your heart when things were going well.

You Might Need This Today...

...and if not today, one day you will.

See, I was doing my daily Bible reading on YouVersion this morning. (YouVersion is really neat; you can add your own notes on the verses you're reading, and you can read notes from other people).

Anyway, part of today's reading was Psalm 36, and after I read it, I linked to a blog post written by Rob Henschen.  Click here to read Rob's thoughts on this Psalm. Go ahead, it won't take but a second, and you just might need it...

Time To Pray

The election is over, the votes have been cast, and the choice has been made. Senator Obama has been chosen to be our next president. Some of you voted for the winning candidate, others of you did not. Some of us awoke this morning with a feeling of celebration, and some of us had a feeling of dread and grave concern for this country.

But regardless of your thoughts and feelings about the election, I want to ask you to commit to doing something for the next four years: pray for our president.

Don't pray against him, or about him, but pray for him. Pray that God will give President-Elect Obama great wisdom in every decision. Pray for God's protection for him and his family. And pray that the President-Elect will submit himself to God's leadership and that even when he fails to do so, that God's will would be done anyway.

I'm committed to praying. How about you?

John Piper on the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

David Thew is the founding pastor of Sojourn Church in Huntsville, Alabama, and in his blog David shares an e-mail written by John Piper, Pastor for Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis.  Click here to visit David's blog and read the entire article.