Written By: Guest Writer
The more complicated life becomes, the more we need to quiet our souls before God. It is my prayer that the following simple (but not by any means easy) principles may be of help to many as they have been, and continue to be, to me. “The Lord God will help me. Therefore I shall not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed” (Isaiah 50:7, KJV).
Go to God first. Kneel in silence. Lift up your heart and hands. Listen. “I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him” (2 Samuel 15:26).
Receive the Givens and Not-Givens. “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup, and have made my lot secure” (Psalm 16:5).
In acceptance lies peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).
It is always possible to do the will of God. “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 15:15; 15;10). “Let the weakest, let the humblest remember, that in his daily course he can if he will, shed around him almost a heaven” (F.W. Robertson).
Do it now. “I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands” (Psalm 119:60). “You do not even know what will happen tomorrow.” (James 4:14).
Love means sacrifice. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (I John 3:16). Memorize I Corinthians 13:1-8.
Choose your attitude. “Your attitude should be that of Christ Jesus, who…made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant….He humbled himself” (Philippians 2:5, 7,8).
Analyze your struggle. Is it merely delayed obedience? “For some it is ‘Down crosses and up umbrellas!’” but I am persuaded that we must take heaven with the wind and the rain in our faces” (Samuel Rutherford). “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free” (Psalm 119:32).
Give it all to Jesus. “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25). “I am willing to receive what You send, to do without what You withhold, to relinquish what You take, to suffer anything You inflict, to do what You command, to be what You ask me to be–at any cost, now and forever” (Anonymous).
Do the next thing. “In the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded” (Ezekiel 24:18). “Five minutes of drastic obedience would make things as clear as a sunbeam” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).
Give thanks always and for everything (Ephesians 5:20). “Let a righteous man strike me–it is a kindness; let him rebuke me–it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it” (Psalm 141:5).