Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Tuesday 08/24/2010)

Who’s At Hand?

Psalm 16:7-10 (Amplified Bible)

⁷I will bless the Lord, Who has given me counsel; yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons. ⁸I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. ⁹Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety, ¹⁰For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the place of the dead), neither will You suffer Your holy one [Holy One] to see corruption.

Have you ever been in the kitchen ready to cook, and you found what you planned to cook, you were missing ingredients for? In our house, the statement “use whatever we have on hand” comes out a lot. We have learned to modify and adjust recipes to accommodate what is on hand instead of making an additional trip to the store. But there are times when specific recipes cannot do with substitutions and it is necessary to safeguard the integrity of the taste of that recipe and you have to make one more trip to the store for that missing ingredient that can cause the recipe to turn out completely different then it is supposed to taste, if it is missing.

Isn’t it just like us to want to use what is on hand in our lives? We want to ask advice of whom ever, run into the arms of whom ever; we want to do whatever, we want to just give no thought to how we are altering God’s plan for our lives and the mixed messages we are sending. It is all because we don’t want to take another trip into the throne room of God or we don’t want to submit ourselves to the leading and guiding of God, we would just much rather use what is on hand. We much rather call a friend then get quiet before God. We would much rather take a drink, have sex, put down others or some other destructive behavior to numb the pain of our lives, instead of coming side by side with the Savior and allowing Him to walk us through to healing. We would rather not have to work any harder than necessary to be under God’s protection, and be in His perfect will instead we would rather alter things, so we don’t have to apply effort or follow what we have declared is the courage of our conviction. We have become lazy and complacent in our walk with God, we have come rebellious in our doing and God is not a thought given in our conduct. Often we are lagging behind Him and then we see we have gotten too far behind and we run to catch up and end up running right passed Him, so we don’t have to keep pace with Him. We don’t want to do the things necessary to keep pace with God, to keep Him at our right hand; we would rather run to Him only when we are in a place of need and desperation.

Short cuts are great when we are talking about adjustments in a recipe, or even some times when know a better way to get some place. But not when we are referring to our relationship with God, His ability to protect, provide and fulfill His promises, in our lives. We have to determine that what we see around us as a quick fix or resource is not necessarily the best way to get what we need, and to be in God’s will for our lives. Using what is on hand in our lives can alter the very place that God desires for us to be and the time in which He desires for us to get there. We need to make the effort to keep pace with God and to let Him be at our right hand. We need to realize that He is the only one that needs to occupy the space to the right; that He is the voice we need to hear and the arms we need to run into. That our Lord and God, should be the one who is the Supreme council and the best source and friend we have!