Now or Later

Psalm 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

 

I love God, there is not a day that goes by that I do not offer up thanks, and praises for all of the blessings that He has bestowed on this worthless sinner. I have to be honest though…..I sure have a hard time waiting on Him. You know the guy that is always irritating people by tapping their feet? Yeah that is me. The guy that gets worked up when I see injustice, to the point that I want to go shoot my mouth off, or go “tell them how the cow ate the cabbage” …yep, me again. A lot of my stories form my past are long stories, about quick decisions. I am usually ready to go…now….So this whole idea of waiting well, it is a struggle for me, and the more I talk to people the more I realize that it is a problem for many people. I find it no surprise that the Psalmist goes on to finish out the thought on waiting by pointing out that we should not worry when people succeed in their wicked schemes…just wait patiently for the Lord….. wow, you talk about hard to carry out! I have seen, as I am sure we all have, the evil of this world get away with far more than they deserve, and it makes me want to move, I must act, I must make it right. Sound familiar? We feel slighted, we feel left out, and left behind. We feel like they are getting all of the good stuff, and because of our faith, because of our quest to walk with Christ, we are left with nothing…….it is that line of thinking that will eat your soul away like a cancer. Nothing? We are never left with nothing. Even on a day that you lose your job, your family, your car, and your house, you still have far more than those who would turn their back on God, and pursue wickedness. A life built on lies, attracts liars, a group of liars attracts deception, and deception gives way to deceit. Success might come for a short time, but eventually the sun shines on everyone, and the shadows are cast away. The truth shines through, and the deception is seen for what it really is. Think that does not happen? I can give you the names of some fellas who became very powerful, very successful all built on lies. Enron, Tyco, Countless CEO’s of banks, owners of Cable companies…those are just some of the big ones. It happens on a smaller scale each and every day. There is a way that seems right to man, but it leads to death. All of these people had one thing in common, they could not wait. “I want it now” was their mantra. In the end they received far more than they bargained for.

 

The Lord has a way of bringing the proud down, and raising up the patient.  What we have to break free form is the thought that we are just that good on our own. “I can fix this”, “ I can make it right”, “something has to be done now”, and in the case of others success, “If they can do it I can do it” , these are thoughts that fill our hearts, and spur us on to action without thought, movement without faith, and  worldly justice, over heavenly righteousness. Good things do happen to bad people. We can go on and on about why God allows evil to prosper, sin to blossom, and terror to reign. The truth of the matter in my humble opinion, is so that we have even more reason to love. Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy right? I would ask, how do we know pleasure, without knowing pain, how do we know happiness, without knowing sadness? It only stands to reason that we cannot know love, without knowing wickedness. When we see wickedness for what it is we should chase after love more, not less. We should reach out with Love  that is in direct proportion to the amount of wickedness we see….and folks sometimes that means a lot of love is needed! Love for each other, can, and I believe will, conquer the wickedness of this world. It was with love that Christ gave us eternal life, that same love will be the undoing of the wickedness in our lives today. The curious thing about it is that we know sadness, and choose to search for happiness. We know pain, and chase after pleasure. Yet when we see wickedness and it is successful, we often feel drawn to the wickedness, even though we know in the end it brings sadness, and pain. It is now, versus later, it is I am in control, versus God is in control. It becomes us working for the Lord, or us working against Him. We must wait, we must not worry when we see the wicked succeed. We must realize that temporary happiness is not what we are here to pursue. This is what the Psalmist is warning about, wait. They might get ahead, but you are promised eternity. They might have what you want now, but you already have what they need now. They might hurt you today, but if you match that hurt with love, tomorrow the pain will be gone. Wait for the Lord, wait patiently, prayerfully, wait expectantly. The wicked might triumph today, but each one of us has the opportunity to triumph for eternity.

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

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The Ridge Fellowship

 

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