Series: The Word
Proverbs 14:22b ESV
Proverbs 14:22 ESV
Deuteronomy 7:9 ESV
Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV
Psalm 91:4 ESV
Psalm 91:4 The Message
At one point in my life when I was younger I thought faith was MY faith.
I thought God would respond to me and my requests only if I had enough faith.
I believed that if I didn’t have enough faith to make something happen it was my fault and my fault alone.
Do you see the underlying issue?
I, I thought, I believed…
It was about me.
The problem with that is it was not about God. I was the center of my universe. God was not the center.
Then my whole world fell apart. I lost everything I’d known and I was blaming myself for messing up. Ultimately I thought it was my fault that I lost everything.
It wasn’t until all of the riff-raff cleared and it was just me and God that I saw the truth.
I realized it wasn’t about me. It WAS about me getting out of the drivers seat so God could be the driver.
It was about letting God be God, because God is good. Only God is truly good.
I recently read Proverbs 14:22b which says, “Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.” After sitting with the text for a while I thought back to the time when I thought I was in control.
I knew and I remembered I am not good in and of myself. That’s because we are good only because God is good and is in us (if we let God in).
When God is in us and drives us to goodness we have steadfast love and faithfulness.
So let’s set that aside for a minute.
I was once challenged by a seasoned believer to redefine what I thought faithfulness looked like. I thought I was faithful most of the time. Because of that I thought being faithful was my responsibility.
Wrong.
The problem with that kind of thinking (and theology) is once again the I, I thought, I believe.
When I started peeling back the layers and replacing the “I” with God and making God the center of my universe and my life, I realized faith wasn’t my faith at all.
I realized because I am not God and I am not capable of always being faithful, it really is God who is faithful to me.
God’s faithfulness is good all the time.
God never fails and God’s faithfulness does not waiver.
Going back to Proverbs 14:22b, “Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.”
God is good. God alone is fully good. God’s steadfast love endures forever because God is faithful.
Proverbs 14:22 says, “Do not those who plot evil go astray? Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.”
Man is incapable of saving ourselves because our sinful (fallible) nature to goes astray. But those who have God IN them who turn to God devise good and meet steadfast love and faithfulness. But ultimately humans we still possess the capability of not turning to God and trusting God.
The journey with God is a daily journey. God will not let go of us but because we are human we forget or we get tired.
That’s why it helps us to practice our faith.
In my life I’ve found that practicing the presence of God helps me. We will diligently seek God. We wait in silence (yes, that does mean turning off the Telly).
Even so we are not doing the “work”. We are making space for God. We remember that God is faithful.
Deuteronomy 7:9 tells us, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Psalm 91:4 reveals, “He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.”
From The Message translation of that verse we read, “His huge outstretched arms protect you—under them you’re perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm.”
I learned that I choose to turn to God. I choose who to trust (usually that’s either trusting in self or trusting God).
God provides. God protects. God is faithful.
I practice trusting God.
I choose to practice sitting in God’s presence.
Spiritual Practice: Turn and sit.
Sit in silence with God. Trust.
In God, Deborah
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