There was nothing slower than time when you wanted it to move along.”
–Lou Bradshaw (Spirit Valley)
“For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
–2 Corinthians 6:2 (NKJV)
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Last week we were interrupted in our study of the Psalms by Veterans Day. Let’s get back to Psalm 31. Only two verses today, so look at them long and hard. Contemplate them and take time to meditate on them throughout the day. We get so caught up in life and when the quandary comes our way, when trouble seems to stalk us we short-circuit. All the time God is saying–“Trust Me.”
14 – But I trust in You, Lord; I say, “You are my God.”
15 – The course of my life is in Your power; deliver me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors. (HCSB)
What are you going to do with your life tomorrow? Whatever God’s wills and allows. How about next week? The same, whatever God wills and allows. If we would but get these Scriptures etched in our mind and heart I believe things would run much smoother. At least the worry and anxiety would lessen.
“Let good or ill befall;
It must be good for me,
Secure of having Thee in all
And having all in Thee.”
–Henry F. Lyte
I certainly didn’t want to go to Vietnam, but when I entered the military there was a good chance I would be headed in that direction. However, I had this confidence, God can take care of me there as well as walking across the streets in the U.S. If I have to go, He won’t be surprised. I ended up spending a year at Tyndall AFB, then was ordered to the Air Force Academy on a controlled tour. Within that tour the war in Vietnam was over. Do you think God was surprise? Do you think that He was not in control?
All of the questions of life are in God’s hand and under His control. There surely will be some to come your way that you don’t understand and wonder why, but realize that He is with you. I believed that God wanted me out of the Air Force, so on December 31, 1977, I was discharged. A free man? Now to find a job. I went eight months without any real job. There were other trials during that time, but Annie and I still trusted. Wearied and frustrated at time, we still trusted. Annie’s Dad gave me some advice–even if we make a bad decision God is still with us.
Sometimes decisions that we make put us in a place of inconvenience. Sometimes things others do to us make us scratch our head wondering. But, all the time God is there. He knows the future. There isn’t a minute that goes by that He doesn’t know what we are doing. He doesn’t turn away. David was miserable, forlorn, downcast and his enemies were trying to destroy him. In the midst of it all, he writes these two verses. Strength of faith is when we are borne down by our sins, forsaken, and fighting difficulties a person can turn to God and say, “You are my God.”