Trust in the LORD....

Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Psalm 37:3-6

Trust in the LORD: I have got to trust in the Lord in all circumstances. Whether it is with my children, my husband, my marriage, my mission(work), my friends, nationals, extended family, etc. I have to trust God to take care of all of that. When I start trusting in myself and get my eyes off of God things go south really quick. I know I can trust in God because I have faith that He is in control.

and do good: I need to do good no matter who is watching. God always sees my actions and my heart! Oh, how I pray that I will know when to help others and that God would use my gifts of mercy and helps to minister to others. Help me God, to do whatever you call me to do with all my might! Help me not to always try to please others but be more concerned if I am pleasing God.

Dwell in the land: To dwell means to live as an inhabitant: reside, to exist in a given place or condition, to focus one’s attention, to treat at length. Am I dwelling in the land that God has brought me to? Or do I have one foot in this land and the other in America? I feel like I am dwelling where God has called me to. Lord, help me to be comfortable with who I am in Christ, with the calling and gifts you have given me, and please use me to minister to others.

and enjoy safe pasture: The best place we can be is right in the center of God’s will no matter where that is or how tough it is. I am safest when I am in the center of His will. However, I think this is mainly talking about spiritual safety. Surely God protects us a lot from physical harm but I don’t think He wants us to not experience any suffering along the way. Even Jesus experienced physical suffering and death. Throughout history, many righteous people have tragically lost their lives. God did not always rescue them. We also know that members of the early church were tortured and died cruel deaths. Though the reasons behind life’s tragedies often remain a mystery, by faith, we can know that God will not abandon his people. Thank you God, that no matter how tough life can be sometimes, you will always be with me and walk through life with me.

Delight yourself in the LORD: to delight means great pleasure or gratification; joy; something that affords great pleasure or enjoyment. I need to make sure I’m delighting myself in the Lord every day by spending time in His Word and by growing closer to him by communicating with Him through prayer. Is it a duty or a desire? Is it boring or pure fun?

and he will give you the desires of your heart: Will God give me anything I desire? No, I don’t think so. But he will give me my desires when they first are shaped by a delight in the Lord. To receive this promise I need to love God above all else and my desires will become what he desires for me. Then my greatest desire will be to conform my life to his will. God is so patient with me!

Commit your way to the LORD: would this mean commit my life or my path? I think sometimes we commit our way to ourselves. We do what we want to do and not necessarily what God desires for us to do. We do what we are comfortable with or what we know. We don’t like to get out of our comfort zone. However, when we do get out of our comfort zone God stretches us and uses us like we can not imagine.

Trust in him and he will do this: Here again we have to trust in him and he promises us the next statement.

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.: So if I will just commit my way to the Lord and trust in him He will make my goodness shine like the dawn(beautiful image) and the rightness of my mission will shine like the noonday sun(that is bright!) Lord, I do pray that I will be a light that will shine for you where ever I am and in whatever I do. I have realized that I am not alone.. that Christ can and will accomplish all the things that He purposes to bring about within my life…in the right season. Praise God!