Sunday- Guest Post By Mrs. Oz

Today's reading in One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan Psalm 27 - 32

There is so much good in these Psalms, I'm going with a SOAP to narrow my favorite down. Don't you feel though that the last few days of Psalm reading has been like a refreshing breeze in our bible reading? I love all the history but this has been a nice interlude.

Scripture:
27:13-14
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Observation:
Some of you know, if you read my blog at all, that I'm getting ready to start Randy Alcorn's book "If God Is Good" as a book club reading for the summer. I think that is why this verse stood out to me. I've been thinking a lot about the hard questions regarding evil we experience here on this earth, and about how God's goodness is complete and unchanging. Seeing God's goodness here on earth is an amazing thing. It's beauty in the midst of ugliness. It's a refreshing breeze in a hot dry land of want. It's water for our thirsty souls. It is so very many things! We appreciate it because of it's contrast, sin and evil. Yet, how more glorious will the goodness of God be in the land of the living! It's beauty will no longer need the contrasting dark hues for us to appreciate it. We will see it fully, and without sinful perspectives. We hold out for that moment, we long for it and we see it way out on the horizon.
Yet, on hard days it seems far a way to the weary heart. So often in our Christian walk, God requires us to wait. When my dad, at 53 was diagnosed with a fatal cancer this poem became such a dear comfort to him. I think it's good for us all. Waiting can be beautiful for us because we are holding the stronger, more steady hand of our Heavenly Father. Yet, even more than that, we are surrendering fully and trusting Him completely letting go of everything we think we are or can be. We are emptied out of us and fall fully on Him. I hope the poem encourages you.


Wait
by Russell Kelfer


Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."


"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.


"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.


"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."


Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"


He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.


"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.


"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.


"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.


"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.


"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.


"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."


Application:

We have a great hope of God's goodness! It is enough for us when all else is emptied out. It will require us to wait at some point or at many points in our journey. Waiting can be a precious place when we surrender.



Prayer:

Lord, you are worth waiting for! Your goodness is all that we need and it is a promise we long for. Remind us of our hope when the world goes dark or we are suddenly disoriented from one trial or another. Be our foundation that is firm. Allow us to be okay with waiting on you. Fill us with your amazing peace when we do that results in joy. Thank you that you long for the fulfillment of your glory and that we benefit from that by the grace poured out from your Son.



Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Tomorrow's reading is in Psalm 35-38

Tomorrows reading is