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The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

There are over 700 mentions of the heart in the bible. We are commanded to love God with "all our hearts" (Deuteronomy 6:5), we are warned to "guard our hearts as they are the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23) and we are told that "where our treasure is, our hearts will be also" (Matthew 6:21).  Jeremiah 17:9 claims that "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure" and Matthew 15:19 says "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander" which doesn’t paint a very hopeful picture of us being able to get our hearts in the right place with God at all! We’re going to need some help…!

So what can we learn from what the bible says, and how do we put this into practice?

Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God.

Psalm 139 says the following:
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

That’s a good place to start – asking God to reveal our hearts to us. Sometimes we can presume our hearts are in the right place, but actually rather than having hearts fully after God, we find out that often our hearts are divided or our motivations are not right. Just because our hearts are telling us something, doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to be right.

One way the bible tells us of finding our where our heart is, is to look at where we invest (what’s our treasure?) Matthew 6:21 : "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Where do we choose to spend our available time and money?  What do we choose to invest our energy or finances in? What do we spend much of our time thinking about? If the answers are  not "God / Jesus / God’s kingdom / loving the Lord & our neighbours" then we’re investing in the wrong things, and our hearts are not aligned to God.

God knows well that we often follow our hearts, and sometimes we follow our heads, but actually neither of these are the right things to follow!! That’s why there are so many warnings in the bible, and verses telling us to set our hearts on God and on his laws. Instead of following our hearts (or our heads) we should be following God’s word, and the Holy Spirit living in us, seeking God for his will and his plans for our lives. Like the request in the psalm above we should be praying "lead me in the way everlasting" We cannot walk on the right path without asking and following God… our hearts will lead us astray.

Psalm 86:11 says "Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." I think it’s key that we realise a lot of the time our hearts can be divided. We want to live for God and trust God fully, but although perhaps a good percentage of our hearts are willing, there’s often another part of our hearts that cannot fully let go and trust God. Because we don’t always get what we want, our hearts try to trick us into believing that perhaps our way is actually better than God’s!! We cannot be divided! James 1:6-8 says a double-minded man is "unstable in all he does." We must ask God continually to help us with our divided hearts, so that we can learn to have hearts that are sold out for Him and prepared to walk in all his ways, not just the ones that suit us.

Proverbs has a lot to say about man’s heart, including this "Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails" Proverbs 19:21. Therefore, what we need to do is learn to align our hearts with God’s, so that God’s plans are our plans! If not, our plans are not going to get us far!  Proverbs also says  "trust in the LORD with all your  heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5.

There’s a passage in the bible that’s quoted quite a lot : Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart". A really lovely passage, but what we need to be careful of is that we don’t skip over the first bit of this passage “delight yourself in the Lord” and rush straight into the getting the desires of our heart bit!! It’s when our hearts are totally after God, when we love to be in his presence and are so thankful to him for all he has done, that our hearts become aligned to God’s own heart. We start to get glimpses of his heart for us, and for others, and our selfishness and our own desires get put back in their place. That’s when we start to desire the things that God desires and our hearts stop leading us astray.

So in Summary: Don’t trust your heart!! It can be very deceitful! Do love God with all your heart and you can’t go far wrong! Ask God to test your heart and be willing to work on anything he reveals to you. Look for yourself at where you spend your time and money to get an idea of if your heart’s currently focused on the right things. Trust The Lord with all your heart, and don’t be divided – He’s the only one who is faithful. Pray for God to help you to do this so that you can love and serve him fully. Delight yourself in God, and your heart will become aligned to his, then he will be pleased to give you the desires of your heart!

Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God.  1 Chronicles 22:19

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." Romans 4:18-22

What does God look for in his children? I believe the thing that he loves to see the most is when we trust in him. Just look at this passage in Romans. Abraham was pre-Jesus, yet Abraham even though he was a sinner (like each one of us) was justified and made righteous through his faith in God. Today it’s our faith in Jesus – his death and resurrection – that makes us right before God. But we also need to live each day in faith, trusting in God’s words and promises and believing that God is who he says he is and has the power to do what he says he will.

The story can be found in Genesis. If we look at chapter 15:5-6 it says .

"He (God) took him (Abram) outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Abraham (God changed his name from Abram to Abraham, after this encounter) was a very old man and he had a very old wife. His wife had never given him children, the passage says her “womb was dead” and yet God told Abraham that his descendants would be so many it would be like counting the stars in the sky!!

How would you react to that promise? It’s not too hard to have the faith for something when you can see how it could happen, but it’s much harder to trust God’s word when every situation/circumstance screams at you that there’s no way (other than a miracle!)  it’s going to happen. Though all the circumstances seemed to say the opposite (“against all hope”), Abraham believed God’s word anyway and he was sure that somehow, someway God could and would do it. This faith pleased God so much that God "credited it to him as righteousness". That means that God made Abraham right with Himself. He no longer held Abraham’s sin against him, instead he removed it all and gave him a clean, holy new start! Amazing!

Now God didn’t fulfil his promise straight away and Abraham’s wife got a bit impatient and came up with a way to “make” God’s promise come true (which was not what God wanted). Yet in God’s timing he did give them a son, as He had promised, and although Abraham didn’t see his offspring numbering the stars in the sky in his own lifetime, he did get to see it from heaven because he had put his faith in God.

I just want to encourage you today to keep on putting your hope and your trust in God. You may feel that circumstances are against you, or that God is slow in keeping his promises, but God is powerful and He will do what He’s promised, in His own perfect timing. So trust in the Lord, in His power to do what He’s promised and with the knowledge that He won’t let you down. You will be so blessed and encouraged if you do!

I’ve had a few conversations with people recently who are finding their walk with God a bit of a struggle. Perhaps it’s the winter blues, the thought of all that dark, cold weather. Perhaps it’s tiredness or perhaps it’s spiritual attack. Either way, we all know what the “correct Christian answer” is– seek God. Yet we all also know that sometimes it’s really tough to do this when we’re tired, fed up and don’t feel like making any effort at all.

So I thought I would give you (and me!) a few tips on how to beat the blues by seeking God!

Tip 1) Remind yourself that it’s not about feelings. I think this is the biggest trap we can fall into. Because we don’t feel “it” or feel like worshipping or feel like praying, we give up before we’ve even started. Feelings are unfaithful – God IS faithful! Therefore, let us trust in God & his Word more and in our feelings a lot less!

Tip 2) Remind yourself of the Truth in scripture. Pick out some encouraging verses of who God is and who you are in him (even if you feel it’s not true.. it IS true, so start claiming it).

Read them OUT LOUD, not in your head. The spoken word has power. Your spirit responds to the spoken word (faith comes by hearing) and you will find yourself being built up just by speaking out words of truth.

Try some of the verses below as a starter, but on a good day try to pick out some scripture for yourself so that when a bad day comes along you can look at your personal list on the wall/fridge/in your diary and read them out-loud to yourself and to God. Turn them around too, so you are talking to God through the scriptures and thanking him for his blessings…

For example:

Thank you Father God that in ALL things you work for the good of those who love you, who have been called according to your  purpose. Romans 8:28

Thank you Jesus that you promise that you are always with me, by the Holy Spirit, and that you will never leave me. Matthew 28:20 & John 14:16

Thank you Jesus that I can do everything through the strength that you give me! Philippians 4:13

Thank you Lord that you know the plans you have for me. Plans to prosper me, and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Thank you Father God  that you have given me victory over sin and death through Jesus my Lord and my saviour. 1 Corinthians 15:57

Even if you don’t feel these scriptures and you actually just feel like your being a bit of a parrot, keep on going! You’re talking to your soul and feeding it with the truth, your also demonstrating to the enemy that you are choosing God’s word over his lies or your feelings. Remember that whether you feel it or not, God’s word IS the truth and it doesn’t change depending on where you are at or the day you have had.

Tip 3) Don’t listen to the lies! You know what the lies are – anything that speaks against the word of God. Anything that destroys rather than builds, anything that undermines who God is, what Jesus has done, or your relationship with Him. Choose not to dwell on these things. Like it says in Philippians 4:8, we should be thinking about whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy.. If it doesn’t fit into these categories, decide not to let yourself dwell in those negative thoughts. Even more so, don’t keep speaking them out over yourself!!! Just as the word of God spoken out-loud is powerful for building up, speaking lies over yourself has exactly the opposite effect.

Tip 4) God is always worthy to be praised. (Even if you don’t feel like it.) Pick a worship song that is easy and that you like (when you’re in a good place!) And sing it out loud to God.

Pick one that shows the greatness of God, or what he has done for you (rather than your response to him, which you may not think you can sing at that moment) For eg. “How Great is Our God” or “In Christ Alone.” And Thank God for being God! Thank Him for being constantly faithful, loving, compassionate and forgiving (even when you are not!). Thank Him that His mercies are new everyday Lamentations 3:23 (which means that even if we feel bad / fall into sin, he always has enough mercy to cover it all because of the blood of Christ, and He has the grace to give you a fresh start in Him every single day!)

Tip 5) Don’t give up easily! If you quote a couple of scriptures and attempt to sing a song and don’t get immediate results remember that although we live in a world that wants everything instantly, life really doesn’t work like that. (Just look at how awful instant coffee is! Yet people put up with it because they forget how good the real stuff is!). Press into God. Wait on Him and know that he’s listening to your prayers and he loves you with an unending love. Remember too that you may need to repent to get that connection back with God (esp. if you’ve been feeling negative as this can cause you to fall into sin more easily) Check your heart and ask for forgiveness, then go back and start again!

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

We all have a mind that tries to work things out for itself! God gave us a brain and wants us to use it, but he also wants us to trust in Him more than in our own knowledge, to depend on Him rather than just trying to figure everything out on our own.

The thing is, you see, God knows the bigger picture. He has a Plan. We see our infinitely smaller picture, our current circumstances, and perhaps a bit of our past experience. But we have to remember that our experience is based on the total sum of our lives on earth. 20 years, 40 years, 60 years, 80 years. Even if we make it to 100 years, it’s a pretty puny amount of experience compared to our eternal God, who made us and the earth we live in. It’s tiny even if we compare our experience with all the combined experiences of people working things out with God throughout the bible. We have the benefit of being able to learn from generation after generation of people who have followed (or more often, rejected) God, but often we still just base our view on what God’s done in the past few days, weeks, months or years of our life.

Living our lives “now” often seems so much more important than our eternal inheritance or God’s eternal plan. God know this, and he is less concerned with giving us what we want “now”, and more concerned for our individual spiritual growth and our personal relationship with Him.. as well, of course, as His overall rather much bigger Eternal Plan (which we are so incredibly blessed to be part of!!)

Trust also is a key word here. Trust is a hard thing, especially when you’ve been let down in the past. But God will never let us down. He has promised to be faithful throughout his Word. We learn to trust God by reading the bible, and witnessing how faithful he’s been through generation after generation of those who put their trust in Him.

If we are asking God for things in our lives, we need to trust and believe that he does have a plan, he does know what’s best for us and that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him..” (Romans 8:28)

So as we wonder/worry about our circumstances and situations, and think “what on earth God could be doing!!!” We need to trust Him, to look to our Father in Heaven for all things and seek his will rather than our own. We need to remember that as we trust Him, and not depend on our own understanding, when we seek Him (and His will), he WILL guide us, he WILL provide for us, he WILL be with us and he WILL lead us along the paths He wants us to go.

And the best thing is that God’s way is the very best way for us. When we trust that God knows best and choose to follow his path, then we will be most at peace, have the most joy and be the most secure in Him.

Isaiah 40:25-31

25 "To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?

28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

Putting God in a box is something we all do well! God according to our own point of view, God according our own limited experience, God according to our way of thinking. Yet God is God! He’s so much greater that we could ever imagine! We cannot compare him to anyone or anything on this earth. All things are created by God. How then can we attempt to compare God to anything we know? (v25)

We just have to look up at night and see the stars, knowing that God made each one and calls each one by name! This makes us realise how very very small we are and how very very big God is! (v26)

Yet we seem to think sometimes that God’s sole purpose is to make us happy. To answer every prayer, to take away our grumpiness, and that this “Christianity thing” is all about us and what it means for us. When we think like this we totally miss the point. Yes Jesus died for us – for our sins – so that we may be given the gift of eternal life, but he did this because he wanted to display his amazing love, to bring glory to God and to show how perfect he is (and how in need of a saviour we are!!) It’s all about God – so that we may give him the Praise and Glory he deserves! There’s nothing wrong with knowing the truth that God, the creator of the universe, loves you and me personally and wants to be in relationship with us, but we should never lose sight of what an awesome, eternal, powerful God we serve and the fear (respect) of God that this knowledge should bring us.

I have bad times and sometimes I ask God “why is this happening?” just like v27 where God’s people complain and say that God has disregarded them. But what I (we) need to realise is this…now brace yourself as this may come as a shock!… the world does not revolve around us!! God’s way are not our ways(1) He has a bigger purpose and a bigger plan than we could ever imagine! “His understanding no-one could fathom” – we’re not supposed to understand everything! Yet we spend so much time and energy trying to fathom God – wondering “why is God doing this?” Instead of simply trusting him because he is God! We should know that he has a plan for us (2) and that He is good (3) and He is faithful(4) and He is just (5) and He is loving(6). Therefore no matter what circumstances we are going through or however we feel about things, “God is the everlasting God” (v28) and it’s His Will that we should be honouring,(7) and it’s our faith that we should be exercising(8), rather than using all our energy trying to work out why!(9)

Our view of God effects how we live our lives. If our view is too small or if we do not trust his word, or believe him to be the faithful and just God he says he is, then this effects how easily we are shaken by the circumstances that we face and how “up and down” our relationship with God is. As we get a truer view of God, through his Word and through trusting what His word says, our view of our lives and circumstances also changes. We will slowly stop looking at our selves, and start looking up to our Creator. We will be at peace with not understanding everything, because we know that God is God, yet he loves each one of us and promises to be with us!(10)

How great is God—beyond our understanding! Job 36:26

1) Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

2) Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

3) Mark 10:18 "No one is good—except God alone.

4) Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands

5) Psalm 33:4-6 For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love

6) Psalm 145:13: The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made / John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. / Psalm 136:2: Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.

7) Just like Jesus prayed : “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Luke 22:42

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

9) Ecclesiastes 8:17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.

10) Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.

Jesus asked the boy’s father, "How long has he been like this?"

"From childhood," he answered. 22 "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

23 " ‘If you can’?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."

24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"    Mark 9:21-24

Every Christian believes, we believe in God and we believe in Jesus for our salvation.  If we didn’t then we wouldn’t be Christians. Yet these key foundational beliefs don’t stop us from battling with unbelief in other areas of our faith.  Like this chap who said to Jesus "if you can…" don’t we all sometimes approach prayer/requests to God like that?

Perhaps we’re not as obvious as saying "if you can" to God. I think we often mask our unbelief behind "if it’s your will" or "in your timing Lord…" but quite often, when it boils down to it, we lack the belief that God will do what he says He will in His word when we trust in Him.

When faced with opportunities to step out for his glory or to believe a promise he has given us through his word, we often have the battle between our belief and our unbelief. The two things wage a mini war inside of us. It’s often easier to believe what we see/feel, rather than what God says is true.

For example, if we get the opportunity to pray for someone to be healed, and perhaps it’s a person with a serious disability… What do we think?

Option 1) God heals. Jesus healed & the disciples healed and Jesus has also given me authority to heal. I believe God’s word and I believe that when I lay my hands on this person they will be healed.

Option 2) Eeek, what will happen if God doesn’t show up?

I think most of us are probably somewhere in between; believing that God can and does heal, but not necessarily believing that he will heal on this particular occasion. That bit is the unbelief we need to tackle. The disciples didn’t start a prayer of healing with "dear God, if it’s your will please heal this person" they just went up to them and said "be healed in Jesus name." They were certain that it was God’s will to heal. That’s what Jesus had sent them to do. I know this really hard and it brings up so many difficult questions, and I can’t explain why some people get healed and others don’t, but I do think God wants us to believe that He will heal, each and every time we pray for someone. To not entertain the unbelief that God might not show up, or that the timing is wrong etc. as this is a slippery slope to more and more unbelief.

Therefore as a starting point I think we all need to acknowledge to God (and perhaps ourselves) that we do have unbelief  "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief." Humbly admitting that it’s our problem, not God’s and to trust Jesus when he says  "everything is possible for those who believe".  I don’t think it’s about not having enough faith – faith is a gift from God and he’s given us all we need (we only need faith as big as mustard seed according to Jesus*). I think it’s more about still allowing unbelief to have its say.

"I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief." Such an honest, real prayer. It’s saying, "God I do believe in you, I do believe that you heal, but I know that mixed in with my belief is also unbelief. Therefore please help me deal with this unbelief so that I can overcome it”

Please understand that I’m not just talking about healing here, this basic principle covers so many areas of our walk with God. There are many more places where we allow unbelief to live alongside belief. Things like knowing who we are in Christ - We can believe our salvation, but sometimes not that we are totally new creations; this unbelief opens us up to falling back into our old ways of life. We believe that God is all powerful – but don’t quite believe that he’s won the victory over satan’s power, so we allow ourselves to fall back into believing that we haven’t got the victory over sin, and we fall into temptation, sin and fear through not standing firm on what Christ has already completed on our behalf. We believe the word which says that God is our provider - but do we believe he will provide for us when we’re at the end of our resources and we can’t see how He will do it? We believe that God has good plans for us because his word says so - but when things don’t happen in our timing, do we try to take over and make things happen ourselves, revealing our unbelief, thinking that perhaps God’s not going to come through for us on this one! Perhaps it’s something else, like believing we are saved but not quite believing we can be totally clean and righteous in God’s eyes. Believing we are loved, but that this is conditional on us doing this and not doing that… Putting our own small print on God’s word, on his promises and on who He says He is and who we are in Him.

Some of you could be thinking "that’s not me, I trust God totally for everything" and others may be saying "unbelief is just a part of life and we’re human so we’re always going to be like it" But I believe that God wants to challenge each one of us, and help us to identify and sift out those areas of unbelief in our lives, so that we can be more powerful and effective for him.

We all have growing to do and we all need to say to God "I believe, help me overcome my unbelief." If we settle for lives that are not trusting God 100% in all things, then we will give a lukewarm message about a moderately powerful, sometimes caring God to a world that so desperately needs to see the real Jesus!  If, however, we choose to trust what the bible says about who God is, who Jesus is and who we are in Christ, and ask God to help us in the areas where we still hold onto unbelief, then our message will be powerful! People will see God’s glory and love through his people, and we will see God’s kingdom come in our own lives, and in the lives of others.

Want to know more? Check out a previous study of mine "What do you know" which talks about needing to know God’s word so that we can stand firm in his truth. This is key because if we don’t know God’s word, how do we know what to believe?

Psalm 43

¹   Vindicate me, O God,
       and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
       rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.

 ² You are God my stronghold.
       Why have you rejected me?
       Why must I go about mourning,
       oppressed by the enemy?

 ³ Send forth your light and your truth,
       let them guide me;
       let them bring me to your holy mountain,
       to the place where you dwell.

 ⁴ Then will I go to the altar of God,
       to God, my joy and my delight.
       I will praise you with the harp,
       O God, my God.

 ⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul?
       Why so disturbed within me?
       Put your hope in God,
       for I will yet praise him,
       my Savior and my God.

Sometimes we think it’s wrong to wrestle with God, to question him and to admit that we are having a tough time (its even harder to tell others). Yet there are many psalms that cover these thoughts and feelings. When we are struggling we need not pretend that everything is ok, or wait until it is fixed before we come back to God and praise Him again. God already knows how we are feeling and what we are struggling with, it won’t come as a surprise to him if we tell him what’s on our mind! He’d much rather we were honest with him than keep everything bottled up.

Yet at the same time we need to remember who God is, and that even if we are feeling down and in turmoil, God is still God and worthy to be praised. He is still our salvation and our hope is still in Him. It’s him who shines his light & truth into situations to guide us in the way we should go.

So if your soul is feeling a bit downcast today, have a go at telling God how you feel & what you’re struggling with. He’s big enough to handle it and he won’t be offended – even if you ask him a few tough questions! Then once you’ve got it all off your chest, you can make the same choice as the psalmist – to choose to hope in God and to continue to praise Him, knowing that He alone is your salvation and your God.

Still not convinced? Have a read through Psalm 13 below!! Its written by David “a man after God’s own heart” .. he knew in his heart that God hadn’t rejected him, he was just telling God how he felt at the time. Look again at how the psalm changes at the very end.

Psalm 13

 ¹ How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
       How long will you hide your face from me?

 ² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
       and every day have sorrow in my heart?
       How long will my enemy triumph over me? 

 ³ Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
       Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

 ⁴ my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
       and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 

 ⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
       my heart rejoices in your salvation.

 ⁶ I will sing to the LORD,
       for he has been good to me.

 And if you’re getting into these purging psalms and feel like reading another, try Ps 22 and read this one really carefully… can you see Jesus in there? You could also read Ps 42 & 43 as one long psalm.

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:15 (Amplified Bible)

This verse just jumped up and hit me. Okay, not literally, although if a verse could really do that, then this one would have !!!

Since becoming a Christian do you believe your walk has consisted of returning & resting in God, and your strength based on quietness and confidence in Him? Well I’m the first to admit that my walk has not been like that!

I don’t know about you but usually I feel more like I’m running and working in nosiness and worry. Why? Where have I missed the quiet resting place that God has for me? Usually I am just too busy rushing ahead of God rather than returning to him for rest.  I am too busy talking instead of taking the time to listen to that still small voice, I am too busy worrying instead of trusting God with it all, and putting my confidence in Him.

Sometimes (Okay a lot of the time…!) I need reminding that God can do perfectly well on his own. He includes me in his plan not because he needs me, but because he wants to share things with me and help me grow. He doesn’t need me at all. He doesn’t need me to be busy busy busy about His business. He’s got it all under control.

That’s why today he’s saying “return to me” Lindsay, don’t run on ahead. “rest in me” Lindsay, you don’t need to rush around all the time. He’s saying “hush…” quieten down your worries and all those thoughts in your head, put them to one side for a while and trust in me.  “Trust in me” he whispers again, and I will strengthen you. Then those worries will seem so small, because I am so big! Bigger than any concerns you may have, bigger than any jobs you have to do.  “Return and rest in me.”

Could God be saying the same to you today?

I think it’s time to step out of the whirlwind of life once again and to turn back to our father God..
And to rest.
And to trust.

In doing this we will be saved from thinking that the world revolves around us.
Saved from being sucked into “doing” rather than “being.”
Saved from being worn out and weary
Saved from losing sight of God in the busyness before us.

Thank you Lord that your ways are not our ways! Help us Lord to listen to your still small voice and to rest in you and return to you before doing anything else. Help us to follow your ways, instead of making up our own. Amen!

Read through Psalm 77 below.

The psalm starts with the psalmist looking at himself, and the situations he is in, he’s dwelling on his negative feelings and blaming God for not working to his plan in his timing (sound familiar?) He says things like “will the Lord reject forever?” – He feels like he’s been abandoned.  What do you think? Do you think God has rejected him?

Perhaps he hasn’t had the expected answers to his call for help, or God hasn’t fixed things quickly enough for him? Perhaps God’s plan is different to his own plan and so he can’t see that God is working through the circumstances he’s going through?

What I really like about this psalm (and so many others) is that it turns around with the psalmist’s putting his focus back on God and the amazing things he has done for his people! This is what we should do in those times of trouble when our feelings tempt us to blame God for our struggles. As we start to speak of the things God has done and the truth that He is Mighty and Great and Holy, then we soon stop dwelling on our current circumstances and realise that God is so much bigger and more powerful than anything we could be facing. Our faith grows and we are reassured that God IS a Faithful God, and does hear our cry for help, even when sometimes our feelings try to tell us differently.

We must remember that God is an awesome God and he has a bigger plan and purpose than we can ever see or imagine. He created the earth and the sea and everything on it and in it. He created all the stars and knows them by name. If he chose to he could decide not bother with us at all, but in his love, even though we are often so full of sin and disobedience, God still wants to be in relationship with us through Jesus.  He chooses for us to be part of His amazing Story.

We sometimes need to take a “time out” to remember that God doesn’t do things the way we do (Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD) and to remind ourselves of Who God really is and what he’s done throughout the generations for his people, and even in each one of our individual lives!

It is His-story after all not ours!

Psalm 77

¹ I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.

² When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands
and my soul refused to be comforted.

³ I remembered you, O God, and I groaned;
I mused, and my spirit grew faint.
Selah

⁴ You kept my eyes from closing;
I was too troubled to speak.

⁵ I thought about the former days,
the years of long ago;

⁶ I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart mused and my spirit inquired:

⁷ “Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?

⁸ Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?

⁹ Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
Selah

¹⁰ Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

¹² I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds.

¹³ Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is so great as our God?

¹⁴ You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.

¹⁵ With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah

¹⁶ The waters saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and writhed;
the very depths were convulsed.

¹⁷ The clouds poured down water,
the skies resounded with thunder;
your arrows flashed back and forth.

¹⁸ Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.

¹⁹ Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.

²⁰ You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.