Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.** Psalms 84:10-12 (NIV)**
We are also told in Psalms 34:10 (NIV): “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” Those who trust in the Lord with all their hearts and lean not on their own understanding – acknowledging Him in all ways, will discover that He will make their paths straight. They taste and see that the Lord is good and they experience genuine happiness in their provision from His Hand. He is there sufficiency and strength. Indeed, they lack no good thing. The Lord gives only that which is good, pleasing and perfect albeit it oftentimes arrives in packages wrapped not of our choosing.
Believers need to grasp what is actually “good” in God’s eyes and that is to make us more and more like Jesus. We so often have an earthly view of “good” – safety, health, material goods etc. – none of which are bad, and are often great blessings from His Hand – yet none of them are necessities either for our salvation or for our walks with the Lord. It is never Jesus plus anything else for salvation. It is always just Jesus. And the great Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) regarding his needs: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” What God’s Hand allows in the lives of every heir of mercy is for their good – whether it looks or feels like it or not. The situation, the circumstance, the “thing” may not inherently be good but it will most certainly be used for our good. Remember quick fixes do not build lasting faith and waiting strips away all our “props” and enables us to depend upon God forcing us to lean on Him and not our circumstances or our own understanding. We need not be trying to make earth our home either – Heaven is. And Jesus desires for us to be a prepared people for our heavenly home and we want that too. Further, He is sufficient to meet our every need.
Uncertainty in life can also be greatly unsettling to us, Amen? We pray and pray for clear outcomes and many times it feels we receive muddled replies or silence. In both affliction and silence in our waiting on the Lord we learn the importance and the necessity of living by faith. The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV): “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” And God continues to commend great faith.
God is teaching us through all of life’s changes and challenges the uncertainty of trusting in the winds and whims of this world rather than on Him. We learn to depend upon Him when all props fail us – “good” news today, terror tomorrow - we discover the ups and downs of earthly hopes. We are like mariners on a raging sea. And our souls melt in the afflictions and troubles. Yet faith is never disappointed as God always proves better than our expectations. The only way to walk through this constantly changing life is by a trusting faith in an unchangeable God. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. And God tells is to wait on the Lord – to trust in Him – when all seems so very confusing and discouraging we are to “wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (Psalms 27:14 (NIV)).
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.** Philippians 3:7-11 (NIV)**