Fresh Hope

FRESH HOPE

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:3-5 NKJV

If you've ever spent time reading and meditating on the beautiful verses of Psalm 37, then you know how encouraging and inspiring they are. When I was dealing with some painful circumstances recently, the Lord led me to this psalm, and He gave me some fresh insights that lifted my heart and filled me with fresh hope. I'd like to share some of these insights with you here today, in the hope that you, too, may be encouraged.

Psalm 37:3 (NKJV) says: "Trust in the Lord, and do good." Why does the Lord so often tell us to trust Him? Because He knows that if we don't stand firm in our faith, the devil and his cohorts will be able to rob us of the victories and blessings that He has in store for us. God longs to empower us to live above our circumstances in difficult times, but He requires our cooperation. We cooperate with Him by making a quality decision to trust Him, and to resist all fear and doubt. Another way we can cooperate with His plan for our victory is to "do good," as this verse says. When we are going through a trial, the devil would like nothing better than to see us "stuck" in our problems. He doesn't want us to move forward, but to keep our focus on our problems and ourselves. God's antidote to that faulty strategy is to reach out to others, knowing that as we do, we will be energized and revived in ways that will keep us moving along the path of victory the Lord has mapped out for us. The second half of this verse tells us to "feed on His faithfulness." God showed me that when I'm in a difficult place and I'm tempted to despair, I need to feed on His promises. Whether we need healing, finances, the restoration of a relationship, or anything else, there are scriptural promises that we can pray and stand on, trusting Him to be faithful to His Word. As one wise man has rightly said, "God's promises will give you hope in hopeless situations."

The next verse in Psalm 37 says: "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4 NKJV) How do we delight ourselves in the Lord? We give HIM the desires of HIS heart. Every day--in big ways and small--we put God first. We seek His will in everything, and we do our best--with His help--to follow His lead. If we focus on our own desires, they will continually elude us. But if we focus on God's desires, we will find our own desires chasing us down and overtaking us. I often like to pray, "Lord, remove from me every dream and desire that is not from You, and plant deeply in my heart those that You have ordained for me." I don't want to waste one moment of my life wishing for something that isn't God's best for me.

Psalm 37:5 (NKJV) says: "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." In all our "ways," God has a part to play, and so do we. God won't do our part. And He won't let us do His part. As we work in partnership with the Lord to bring His perfect will to pass in our lives, we will witness His perfect plans unfolding before our very eyes. Every time we encounter a need or a problem, God already has a custom-made solution prepared for us. It doesn't matter how many obstacles seem to be in the way, if we will let God be God in our situation, He will make a way where there seems to be none. The Lord wants to fill you with fresh hope for your life and circumstances today. Call upon him now, and ask Him to reveal Himself to you in healing, comforting, and uplifting ways!

Lord, in times of trial and trouble, help me to take my stand in faith, and to do good to others. Teach me how to delight in You and Your Word, and to claim Your promises of victory. Thank You that as I commit everything to You, You will fulfill Your perfect purposes for me!


(Devotional written by J.M. Farro)

Just Resting.

I know I posted this devotional several months ago, but as I read through my journal yesterday it stood out to me again. As I have always said, in this part of life it's all a process... the heartache, the memories, but now, some joy. Not for any particular reason; I'm not kidding: nothing extraordinary has happened. But, for a few days now I have found myself, "resting, resting, in the joy of what Thou art; finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart." And, this devotional gives particular encouragement in the hope that these experiences, this array of genuine emotion, will someday help another young woman. And, as always, may Jesus use the broken pieces, but leave the scars to be a testimony of His faithfulness, glory and grace.

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The son found himself in a barren place.

His Father said, "In this place I will give you the peace you are longing for. Here I will give you spiritual food that will nourish you. You are always with Me---no

Then the Father, with great gentleness dres the son to Himself. Quietly he said, "I am the one who allowed you to come into these humbling circumstances and who allowed you to hunger. I did this so that I might feed you with manna---My bread from heaven.

"Only in this way could I help you to know that you cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from My mouth."

. . . Later still, the son wondered why one like himself, who was so richly fed and cared for at times, should at other times feel so poor and needy and thirsty.
His Father replied by asking four questions:

"Can someone who has never thirsted know how precious is My living water?

"Can someone who has never discovered rivers of these living waters flowing on barren heights---can he ever lead his thirsty friend to those rivers?

"Can someone who has never walked the deep valleys of the spirit help a friend who is fainting---or lead this friend to the well-springs that will save the life of his soul?

"Can someone who has never seen burning sands in the wilderness turn into a refreshing pool---can he speak in praise of My marvels, or My power?


I Come Quietly to Meet You, Amy Carmichael