It has been over a month since I was on my last Journey. Since then, the Lord has continued to draw me to Himself. God has been teaching more of what it means to trust in Him and wait upon Him…which seems to go against my natural inclination. =) But I have been encouraged to find that through His Word, I find all that I need for every circumstance that I am in. His Word is truth.

In the midst of all the excitement and business that comes during the Holidays, I recently came across a very profound and wise statement made by Oswald Chambers in his book “My Utmost for HIS Highest”

Beware of the “cares of this world,” because they are the things that produce a wrong temper of soul. It is extraordinary what an enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention from God.
Refuse to be swamped with the cares of this life.

The passage in Matthew 13 comes to mind, where the cares of the world choked the good seed (the Word) and it became unfruitful. It was a reminder for me to continually come back to the highest priority in life…my relationship with God. One of the things that God desires in my life is that I would bring forth much fruit (John 15). I must refuse and reject those things that would draw my heart away from the Lord and waste my time. Competing affections would be something that would stunt or even stop the production of spiritual fruit in one’s life.

Over the years, I have recognized that my quiet time is one of things that helps keep my focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. At this point in my life, with all the variables, different pressures and possibilities, there’s the tendency to be overwhelmed. But when I take each pressing issue to the Lord and lay it out before Him, trusting Him and not leaning upon my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5.6), I find a true peace and joy that I wouldn’t anywhere else. I love how God used King Hezekiah to so beautifully illustrate this principle there in II Kings chapters 18 and 19. When Hezekiah was given that troubling letter from the King of Assyria, what did he do? Upon receiving that letter, the first thing he did was go to the house of the Lord. There he laid it out upon the floor of the temple before the King of Kings, for his trust was in the Lord and not in himself or someone else. In verses 5 and 6 of chapter 18, it gives the following description of King Hezekiah:
He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments…

Everyday I have the opportunity to “lay out” the pressing issues of my heart before the Lord in my quiet time. Will I trust in His sovereignty and perfect plan? Or will I lean upon my own understanding and what I think is best? My quiet time is a time where I can pour out my heart to the One who never sleeps and will hear my call. But most important , it’s a time for me to listen. A time to be still…(Psalm 46:10) and hear His voice and receive direction and wisdom in order to  know Him in a deeper and more personal way.

May the Lord bless us all with a renewed desire and passion to pursue Him through His Word that we might deepen that intimate relationship that He so desires with each one of His children.

~ Chad

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 12:39 pm and is filed under The Journey Continued. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.