I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [inner self] rejoices' My flesh also will rest in Hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life, In Your presence is fullness of Joy. As Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:7-11
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12
So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the Hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it , for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.
Hebrews 10:23
Honor and majesty are found in His presence, strength and Joy are found in His sanctuary.
1 Chronicles 17:27
And do not be grieved and depressed, for the Joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.
Nehemiah 8:10
Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]-- blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.
Proverbs 29:18
Have you found yourself feeling weak over the last few months, days or weeks? I have. I was overwhelmed and lacking vision. I could not see any way for God to redeem the circumstances and situations I was in. I slogged my way through and yes I did get through better than I thought I would with God's help. But I didn't walk as victoriously as I could have through 2 1/2 months of balancing a crazy school, new job and other commitments schedule that I had. I survived I didn't thrive. And through that time I knew what I needed I just couldn't seem to find it. We all have those times where all though we don't like the place we are in we are more comfortable returning to our old ways in a cycle of self-pity, weakness and distrust (that we call our defense mechanisms) when we decide we don't have time to spend in God's sanctuary drawing strength from the Joy of His marvelous presence, His glory that's heavy with everything that is good. The Joy of the Lord is our strength. Joy is not based on circumstances, happiness is. In His presence is a place of Peace that is beyond our understanding it comes when we release the cares and the worries to God. The ones we weren't supposed to carry to begin with.
For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and Peace. Romans 8:6
Peace I leave with you; My own Peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27
And let the Peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ, rule (act as an umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds in that peaceful state] to which members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful and appreciate give praise to God always. Colossians 3:15
As I was walking under the level I should have I recognized it and had God moments of strength. I am to the point that I can discern when I'm heading to the place of no joy, no vision and no hope. It's an amazing feeling when hope reawakens. There were a couple areas that I had given to God but through time and frustrations, I removed some of my trust and allowed my Hope to get deferred. As I recently took some time as school ended to just seek Him, immerse my heart in His healing presence and renew my mind with His word. I find myself once again full of Hope (a confident expectation), bubbling with Joy, and contentedly at Peace. Peace is an interesting concept I think a lot of times we get stuck on this vision of peace being this place where we make ourselves content with whatever comes along, a place of being holy satisfaction with what we should be dissatisfied with. That dissatisfaction doesn't negate your peace. The best description I can think of right now is a heart levelness. You may not know what you are supposed to do, where to go or feel powerless, but when you have Peace it's like even though all these things are going on that you should be worked up over, your heart just feels... level, so that you can speak peace into those situations and God will totally come through for you every time. His hope doesn't disappoint. We feel like He doesn't always come through, but we have this picture in our minds of what Him coming through for us should look like. It doesn't always look like that and if we are at Peace we can more clearly see God's hand moving because we aren't so caught up in the circumstances.
In the days ahead, enter into the Joy, Peace and Hope that the Lord offers. I don't have things all figured out, my life isn't all together. God's best is within my reach. And God's best is what I pursuing as I run with endurance the race that was set before me.
Never give up
God's best is yet ahead!
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