I'm not starting this with anything in particular to write. It's just that I haven't written in awhile so I'm going to stir the pot and see if anything of substance rises to the surface. Saying something has never been a problem. It's saying something worth saying that's the issue. I've been in a season of listening and hearing, seeing and perceiving, this morning in particular spent digesting Psalm 27. The writer makes a stunning declaration when he says, "one thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after..." That's the part that's stunning to me. More than what He seeks, it's that he reduced his entire life down to one thing. It's that refined focus that vocalizes that I'm alive for a single purpose. Have you reduced your life to one desire? Is there one cry in you that encompasses it all? The one thing is to live in the manifest presence of His glory and from that place make Him known. It amounts not just for us but for the impact of His glory to shape the world around us. "...that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple..." What just rocks me about this is that the fulfillment of that one thing leads to another quest. To be in that place of beholding is what qualifies you to inquire. It's what grants you access to the place of greater breakthrough in wisdom and revelation. The Psalm finishes up with a common admonishment in Scripture. Wait on the Lord. There's a few meanings that can be applied here and they're all profound and though different, all work. One is to exercise a measure of patience, to surrender your agenda to His plan. (Prov 3:5,6) Another is to attend to serving Him. To bring to him what He desires as the master at a table and you, His servant. (Ezekiel 44, Luke 17) Still another is to set an ambush. To set an ambush for God? That's about living in such a way that your direction can be diverted, spontaneous, and stripped of a predetermining agenda. Dip your toes in Psalm 27, stir that prayer around, and see what comes to the surface for you.
Wednesday, November 07, 2018
Stir it Up
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Hi Bill,
I have been in a season of waiting and I was about ready to pull my hair out when I came across this blog. It’s the third time this week the Lord has blessed me with words of encouragement to stay strong in the waiting. Three years ago I felt the Lord asking me to down size so I sold my home and moved into a condo and as I crossed the living room of that condo the Lord spoke clearly to me that this was the place He wanted me to buy but He immediately warned me that I shouldn’t get too comfortable because in three years time he was going to “send me.” Well this has been year three and the waiting has been driving me crazy so I decided to take your challenge and read Psalm 27 and see what surfaced. I read through the psalm and realized that the last two verses were the ones that spoke the loudest to me, however in reverse order. Then I did something I have never done before. I read the whole psalm from the last verse to the first verse and it made sense in that direction too! As I sat with that strange revelation, it came to me that God knows our stories from the end to the beginning. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He knows what is coming and He knows the outcome. He knows the perfect timing of it all. He’s already perfected the whole story line, plot, battles, and victory. The peace I finally found is that He not only knows the victory, He guaranteed it! I stopped worrying and sat in this delightful calm just waiting for the curtain to go up and for the show to begin. Rest, ah sweet rest! Thanks Bill! Thanks Jesus!
Sue K. -State College, PA
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