It seems like the longer I have been a Christian, the Lord
teaches me in different ways in comparison to when I was a baby Christian and
first began walking with Christ. When I first started reading my Bible on a
daily basis, I remember the Lord speaking to me right away. He would give me
counsel quickly on problems I was having. Now, when I come to bumps in the
road, I go to the Bible for counsel, and it seems as if God is silent to me on
certain issues that I need answers to right away! I pray and then read my
Bible, nothing… God has promised us that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
He has promised that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness we shall be
filled. He promised that if we seek Him early we will find Him. He promised
that whatsoever thing we ask in His name that He will hear us. So, if I have
claimed all these promises, and God promises to hear our prayers, why do I grow
impatient waiting on Him to answer me? As the children of Israel were wandering
around in the wilderness, they grew impatient with God and His promises to lead
them to the Promised Land. The children of Israel grew weary with what God had
already provided for them. Psalm 106:13b. says, “they waited not for his counsel:” When we are going through a storm
in our lives or a dark time when we don’t hear God’s voice or desperately need
an answer from God’s Word, wait for God’s counsel. Do not make a plan until
it’s clearly 100% God’s will. Psalm 91:11 says that God will give His angels
charge over us to protect us from making the wrong decisions during the dark
times if we are walking with Him. Am I relying on the Holy Spirit and God’s
Word to lead me all of the time or just when I think I’m making a “big”
decision?
1. Be thankful and content. Psalm 106:24 says about the
children of Israel that they despised the pleasant land. God was meeting their
basic needs (which according to the Bible, our needs are food and clothes, I
Timothy 6:8), but they wanted more. Psalm 106:14, “But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness…” How many times have I
been guilty of becoming unthankful for what God has provided and wanted more?
Has God put food on the table and clothes in my closet, and I want more?
2. Do not pray with a complaining spirit, but, rather with a
joyful spirit. Psalm 106:25, “But murmured
in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.” Instead of
looking at all the good things God has done for us, we complain about what
prayers we think He “isn’t” hearing at that time. Psalm 106:32, “Because they
provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.” In the
wilderness, Moses lost his temper. While we are waiting for God’s counsel,
learn to control our spirit, so that we do not do anything or say anything that
we will regret. Proverbs 25:28, “He that
hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and with
no walls.” Learning to control our spirit is learning to be joyful no
matter what life throws at us. Whether it be a serious sickness, to every day
mundane chores, to changing dirty diapers, to pay cuts, we can learn to be
joyful in all things.
3. Pray, realizing that it is not just about you! Future
generations are affected by our decisions and even our prayers. Psalm 106:27,
“To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the
lands.” When we don’t wait for God’s counsel, and take problems into our own
hands, we curse our own children. Our decisions do not just affect us but our
children and generations to come. Psalm 106:37, 38 says, “Yea, they sacrificed
their sons and their daughters…” The children of Israel grew impatient, and
sacrificed the well-being and God’s perfect will for their own children just to
get what they wanted. Once they got what they wanted, they still weren’t happy
and wanted more. Psalm 106:15. “Lord, please help us to learn to depend on you,
and wait for your counsel!”
Used with permission by Jackie Carr
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