Enough Already!

Have you ever just really wanted to rant and rail at God? Ever felt forgotten or ignored? You've waited and waited and waited and still, nothing seems to be changing; the answer still hasn'T come.

David found himself in that very situation. Psalm 13 begins with:

“How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? 

How long will You hide Your face from me?”

That’s the NIV translation; very polite and respectful. But the Message paraphrase says,

“Long enough, God! 

You've ignored me long enough! 

I've looked at the back of Your head long enough!”

WOW! That’s pretty strong language. The frustrations, cares and anxieties of life had just about pushed David over the edge. He was tired of waiting! But, he ends Psalm 13 with a strong statement of faith:

“But I trust in Your unfailing love; 

my heart rejoices in Your salvation. 

I will sing the Lord’s praise, 

for He has been good to me.”

You see, David had a history with God. He had called upon God time and time again in his life, and he had seen God’s salvation time and time again.

We, too have a history with God. When we are at the place of saying, “Enough already!” we can look behind and see where He has brought us, how He has delivered us, healed us and blessed us, we too can say, “But I trust in Your unfailing love…for He has been good to me!”

‘Lena Ehlert

©Whispers in Worship

Expectations...

I got up this morning with the expectation of taking my granddaughter, Allison, to the summer movie events at our local Regal Theater. The website had informed me that today’s movie was The Lorax; however, when we arrived, that was not the case. There were two PG movies showing, both of which I considered inappropriate for my eighteen year old daughter, let alone my three year old granddaughter. So we found ourselves returning home.

We began the day with certain expectations, but soon found that they were not to be. As I drove home, I began to ponder expectations and how I view them in relation to God.

Have you found that you have certain expectations of God? Perhaps you have expected Him to take your situation and change it, only to find He wants you to walk through it. Or maybe you have expected Him to provide this way and instead He has done it another way.

Scripture tells us to expect God to move; expect God to speak; expect God to provide whatever it is we need. But we are not to place our expectations on a God who is much bigger than we can fathom.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."

What are your expectations today? We are instructed by the psalmist to "Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him" (Psalm 37:7 HCS). But I have realized in the past few weeks that I am expecting Him to do it my way. I was reminded this weekend that God doesn't give  us road maps. He expects us to trust Him day by day, moment by moment.

Let this be our prayer today:

"In the morning, Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait expectantly" (Psalm 5:3 NIV).

Oh yeah...instead of sitting in a cold, dark movie theater, we are at home with the windows open letting in the beautiful sunshine and listening to the birds chirp, watching Scooby Doo and making sugar cookies...Expectations! Who knew?

'Lena Ehlert

©Whispers in Worship