As I look out my window that faces south, I know that my window only shows a partial picture. I know that if I was to stand up and look out of the window, I would see so much more. In a way, I trust that what I see is not the whole picture.
As I walk in the morning, I begin by listening to Scripture. Sometimes I deeply connect, and sometimes I know the words wash over my heart, I’m listening, but also crossing the street, or making sure the dog is on track…
Yesterday, however, in my reading of Proverbs, a verse jumped out to me.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.”
Proverbs 13:12 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/pro.13.12.AMP
Honestly, I see that. I see that in my life in situations with which I have little to no control. As we wait, hope for an answer, I admit my stress level and propensity for a migraine increase. Sometimes I wonder how the waiting can produce in me anything good. This is why going to the cross references for this Proverb here mines gold. I’m not the only one aching in the waiting.
“As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks, So my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God. My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God.
When will I come and see the face of God? [Ps 63:1, 2; John 7:37; 1 Thess 1:9, 10] My tears have been my food day and night, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
These things I [vividly] remember as I pour out my soul; How I used to go along before the great crowd of people and lead them in procession to the house of God [like a choirmaster before his singers, timing the steps to the music and the chant of the song], With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a great crowd keeping a festival.”
Psalms 42:1-4 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/psa.42.1-4.AMP
I am convicted. David wanted to see the Lord. In my humanness, I want to see my answers. David longed for the Lord like water. When will I see the face of God? Let that be my prayer today. When I pray for God’s presence, I know He answers this prayer. As I read through the Proverbs, these are the gems that are mined.
On one hand I have Matthew 6 pulsating in my mind, God knows what you need before you ask, which to me says, ask. Pray. Hope. Yet, be aware, the answers may not come at the speed I want. So, in the waiting, more prayers to see His face, to be in His presence. More prayers for wisdom over my whole life, not just for the circumstances that press me down.
“¶Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become restless and disturbed within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence. O my God, my soul is in despair within me [the burden more than I can bear]; Therefore I will [fervently] remember You from the land of the Jordan And the peaks of [Mount] Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the [thundering] sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.”
Psalms 42:5-7 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/psa.42.5-7.AMP
The burdens, the despair, the restlessness can become overwhelming. We pace. We worry. We fret. Oh, but verse 6! We are called to remember. We are called to walk outside and see His glory. See it in the pouring rain (which I have been in many times lately). See it in the beautiful flowers and greens and animals.
I have gotten on a side of Instagram that is nature photographers capturing the beauty and majesty of eagles. SLO motion capturing their flight. Their play. Their hunt for prey. I watch, mesmerized.
“Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song will be with me, A prayer to the God of my life.”
Psalms 42:8 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/psa.42.8.AMP
I seek His lovingkindness in the daytime today. Right now. I know it is with me. I. Can. Trust. His song is with me in the night. Let us declare with prayer that God is the God of our lives.
Faith is active. It doesn’t just stay in the morning. Faith is meant to be lived. Active. Our faith can never be in what we see. We must remember and therefore have hope. There will come a day when there is resolution.
But today? Today we remember and see His lovingkindness all over our lives.
“But this I call to mind, Therefore I have hope. It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, Because His [tender] compassions never fail. [Mal 3:6] They are new every morning; Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness. [Is 33:2]”
Lamentations 3:21-23 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/lam.3.21-23.AMP
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