The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

One word focus for today: wait.

We go to the doctor’s office and are seated in the “waiting room.”
We pull up and stop at the stop sign and “wait” until there is a break in traffic before we proceed.
We watch with joy and “wait” when the red flashing lights and the gates come down at the railroad crossing.

We actually do more “waiting” than we realize. The Bible speaks about waiting. One such wonderful verse is “Wait on the LORD and be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:14).

This waiting is different from the doctor’s office, stop sign, and train approaching signals. This word “wait” is qava (kaw-VAW) and means to look for, hope, expect. To be looking eagerly for. As you read through Psalm 27, you will be reminded that the LORD is our light and salvation (v 1); He is the One Who brings confidence in the midst of overwhelming situations (v2-3); He is beautiful and worthy of our intentional seeking (v4); in times of trouble He especially blesses and helps us (v5-6); He answers our prayers (v7); even when the unimaginable occurs, He is ever good (v8-13). That is why we, by faith, trust the Lord and look with eager anticipation to His ongoing working in our lives and the situations for which we are praying.

I am challenged today in this matter of waiting. The first thing I ought to always do is look to the Lord and not to rush into “fixing” things on my own! Welcome to the “waiting” room of looking to the Lord today.

One word focus for today: contentment.

It would be interesting to hear the answers if you were to ask people what “contentment” means. Some might say:

“I’d be content if my credit card debt was paid off.”
“I’d be content if I got another week’s vacation each year.”
“I’d be content if I could throw away my alarm clock and sleep in every day.”
“I’d be content if I never had any more homework and no papers to write.”

There’s a common thread. Did you catch it? “I’d be content IF….” Every answer was contingent upon something real or imagined as possibilities. Listen, I know that paying off a debt or getting a little extra vacation is wonderful. As for the alarm, at my age I could sleep in, but I’ve found I am waking up earlier than ever! I won’t even touch the subject of the teenager idly day-dreaming of no homework!

We who are Christ-followers, we who belong to Him do not live with “I’d be content IF…” We live by a precious and powerful, “We are content SINCE…” Let me show you. It’s Hebrews 13:5. Let me share it with you from the KJV first, “Let your conversation be without coveteousness, and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Listen to it in the NKJV as it explains, “Let your conduct be without coveteousness: be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

We have a blessed contentment SINCE the Lord Himself has promised that He would never leave us nor will He ever forsake us. It’s fine to enjoy an extra week vacation. It’s fine to accept pay raises. It’s fine to move into a bigger or nicer home. But just remember this simple truth. We discover that contentment is found in a personal saving relationship to and a personal growing fellowship with the Savior. Wait until you see what word I’ve picked out for tomorrow.

This makes me stop to think for a moment.

“Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright” (Psalm 33:1).

We do not necessarily rejoice because of circumstances or situations. We do, however, rejoice in the LORD.
He is ever faithful.
He is ever trustworthy.
He is ever loving, merciful, just and full of grace.

With this in mind, it is always fitting for praise to come from the upright. Praising the Lord involves focusing on WHO He is, trusting in WHAT He has promised, placing confidence in HOW He cares for His people and celebrating WHY He is worthy of praise and adoration.

That’s what I’m taking from this moment. How about you?

This makes me stop to think for a moment.

“And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. Then one came and told them, saying, behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, saying, Did not we straitly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 4:18; 5:25-29).

Could such a situation ever happen in America? I don’t want to alarm you, but yes, indeed, it could. Think of the Apostles. What a situation the early apostles were in. The orders were direct. Never again were they to teach or preach about the Lord Jesus. In fact, they were not even to mention His name in public. Risking their wellbeing and even their lives, they took a powerful stand. They would choose to obey God over man-made rules and regulations. The Apostle Paul declared that under normal circumstances, rulers and laws must be honored and obeyed (Romans 13). They must even be prayed for (1 Timothy 2:1-2) as we live quiet and peaceable lives. But if the time should ever come when the ruler commands the believer to do something that is a direct violation of Scripture, “We must obey God rather than man” is still the standard. Let me be very frank and honest with you. If the time should ever come in our country when I am “forbidden” to preach or teach God’s Word, by the grace of God, I will still preach it in its entirety from Genesis to Revelation. Why? Because we must obey God rather than man.

Indeed! This is not being negative. However, I want to encourage my readers that if things continue as they have been, we must be willing and ready to take the stand of such obedience to God.

What a somber day.

I fear that some young people born a few years after 9/11/2001 are somehow not grasping the depths of just how profound that tragic day was. For those of us living at the time, we are able to point to the very place we were when we heard that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Then another into the other building. Then the Pentagon was struck. Then a plane was missing over Pennsylvania. All flights were being grounded immediately as we watched in horror the collapsing of those buildings. We knew that many people were still inside those buildings and could not survive. It is a good time for each of us to stop and pray once again for the many families whose lives were drastically changed because of losing a loved one that day. There’s not much more I can write on this memorable day. But I do have a verse to share and maybe just a little encouragement that I have been thinking through.

“The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD; but He loveth him that followeth after righteousness” (Proverbs 15:9).

What those radical Islamic terrorists did demonstrated that they were indeed wicked. Those of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior have the promise that the Lord absolutely delights in lavishing His love upon those who follow after righteousness. Of course, the only righteous living (not perfect) is that life when Christ comes in as Savior.

This encourages me today.

This world is very broken. But the Lord is still on the throne and still is in charge. “The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in Heaven” (Psalm 11:4).

The LORD is good even on those days of disaster and heartache. “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knows them that trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7).

Therefore, I will trust Him in the good days as well as the tragic days. “For I have heard the slander of many; fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. But I trust in Thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God. My times are in Thy hand” (Psalm 31:13-15).