Read Psalm 34 and notice verse 19 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." This verse like: "A righteous man falleth seven times and riseth up again." are both verses that we tend to just pass over and not take literally. but for real for real. A righteous man DOES FALL and a righteous man DOES HAVE AFFLICTIONS, many of them in fact it says. If you look through the Bible, David and Joseph both waited 14 years before they were given the positions God promised them, and in the mean time it looked like they were getting further away from the goal, the one sold into slavery, rose up through the ranks only to be thrown in prison again! the other tending sheep, rose up and killed a giant, made a name, then had to run for his life from the king for years. Then Moses and Abraham both had to wait way more years than 14. the one having been born in a palace and then fleeing the country for I think it was 40 years before God called Him back, Abraham waiting till he was old, and Abraham, after his wife became barren, questioned God's plan and wile He "believed" God would make him a nation, he questioned the how's and whys and tried to make it happen himself by sleeping with Hagar which caused a load of problems. :-P Yet God's plan is God's plan. "Don't ever give yourself the false dignity of thinking your big and bad enough to mess up God's plan." Something a very wise 16 year old pastor's daughter told me years ago and it's so true. Peace, Joy and Hope all stem from resting in God. Obey right now. I don't care if you sinned all morning and didn't get anything done all day because you felt defeated. A righteous man falls seven times and gets back up! It never said a righteous man doesn't fall. God has forgiven you and for you to think that you can't come boldly before the thrown till you have walked the line even 5 minutes is to mock the Cross and Christ's sacrifice as if His death was somehow not good enough or that you somehow can in your goodness add to His provision. We fool ourselves with this thought. "I sought the Lord and He delivered me from all my fears." Ps 34:4 and verse 22 "The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate." That is our hope. He is our only hope. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us," Read also Titus 3:3-5 I recommend reading James and Titus and personally the psalm of the day thing is a good reminder more often than not. I think the reason we get to where the Bible doesn't inspire us when we read it is because we begin to think that it's words are not literal, but that somehow through lots of study it's suppose to allude to how to live, yet, (read James 2:17-24) we see with Abraham that "faith wrought works, and by his works was his faith made perfect." I believed God had a plan, and yet it wasn't till I started "living like I believed it" that my heart was comforted. "Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established." a friend shared a description of faith with me the other day that "faith is acting like it is so, when it is not so, so that it might be so, because God said so!"
Granted, there is the question of what when and where God wants you... but: "whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do it with all thy might" if your at church, with family, with friends, studying, working or just spending time with God. Don't second guess it. Do it. God will guide you to where He wants you, but you won't do a good job of that if you can't learn to do a good job where you're at right now. "be faithful in the little things and I will give you much to be faithful for." again as the tortoise said in Kung Fu Panda :-P "The past is history, the future is a mystery, but RIGHT NOW is a gift, that's why it's called the PRESENT!" it sounds cute, but all through Scripture God commands us to "take no thought for tomorrow" and He says that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The past He's forgiven, and the future is in His hands for "the battle is not to the strong, nor the race to the swift, but God gives the victory."! "TRUST in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, in ALL thy ways acknowledge Him and He WILL direct your paths." Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of thine heart." Don't spend so much time worrying about whether or what your suppose to desire, focus on obeying literally His word in whatever situation your in by doing it with a whole heart, and honor Him by trusting Him with whatever situations/people you can't attend to at the moment. You'll be amazed how He will open your heart to anticipate even more the desires He's already place in you, only without fear of failure and when it is time you will be able to pursue them with renewed vigor and no holding back or distraction. Granted it is a daily struggle to maintain focus, but you'll find peace and safety when you realize that God is on your side and your not the one responsible for success, He will give the increase, your only job is to obey and accept His acceptance and forgiveness when you fall short and trust Him to pick you up and give you the faith/strength to try again.
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