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faithfulness

The Desires of Our Heart: Trust in the Lord

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“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:3-4 seems a little short and simple to study for a full week, but the longer I sit with these two verses, the more I’m finding new troves of treasure in each of them. Truthfully, I find myself focusing on that last part – the Lord giving me the desires of my heart – with much more excitement and passion than I feel in the instructions before those words. I spend so much time chasing a calling or a desire of my heart, that I forget the instructions he has so beautifully laid out before me: Trust in Me. Do good. Dwell in the land. Befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in Me. 

I’d love to spend this week together turning our attention to those things and seeing how the Lord transforms and grants us the desires of our hearts when we put things in their right order.

 

Trust in the Lord

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Psalm 37:3

MondayI grew up going to some form of camp in the summers, and then in college, I worked for a youth ministry and put together camps. Ever participated in a trust fall? I remember one where you had to fall from a lifted platform to your entire team down below … and I also remember being thrilled that I didn’t end up having time to participate in that one! I like to think of myself as a go-with-the-flow type of person, and as pretty trusting, but I was not about to freefall into the arms of my teammates without any backup plan or assurance that all would be well.

As easygoing and as trusting as I may be, I still like to have a little bit of control. I like to know what I’m in for, and I like to know at least a shadow of what’s ahead. Unfortunately, I’m learning life doesn’t happen like that.

When Jesus called Peter out of the boat and onto the water, Peter had no idea what was going to happen. I don’t think Peter expected to step out of the boat and stand on top of the waves. He simply knew who Jesus was, and he trusted that whatever was about to happen – Jesus was taking care of it.

To trust the Lord, to trust anyone really, we have to get to know the person. We have to see him as trustworthy. Spending time with the Father and reflecting on our journey with Him this far in life allows us to see His trustworthiness. Choosing to trust allows us to step out of the boat whenever and wherever He calls us.

A little less than a year ago, while I was relearning what it looks like to trust the Lord, I wrote this in my journal as I felt Him speaking, and I feel as if it’s a word we all need to hear from Him.

I know you.

I know your heart and your desires. I know what I have created you for. When what’s to come is overwhelming, look up. Look to me, because I know you. I can be trusted – release the burden of distrust and step into new, beautiful places of trust and reckless abandon.

I know you. And I love you … not in spite of knowing you, but because I know you.

I know you. Trust Me.

Chelsey

A Place at the Table: Everyday Doxology

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As much of a social butterfly as I consider myself to be, one social situation sends my heart racing – and not from excitement. I turn into a bundle of nerves when I have to find a seat at a table, especially in a public place. What if there’s not a seat for me? What if I sit in someone else’s place? I’ve come to discover that those fears reflect some fears I didn’t realize I had about the Kingdom of God. I’ve learned though, sitting around tables across the world, that there is always room at His table. Hopefully you’ll find some encouragement in these stories shared around my table.

 

Everyday Doxology

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
Psalm 9:1-2

As crazy as it may seem to some, I had never heard the word Doxology until I was in college. Twenty-four hours after a tornado ripped through my college town, I found myself in the backyard of a pastor’s home with 50 college students singing these four lines:

MondayPraise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him all creatures here below,

Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts,

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost,

Amen.

The only thing that made sense to us in a season of destruction and rebuilding was to praise God. For weeks after the tornado, we would gather in a pastor’s backyard for dinner and sing the Doxology together. Those nights helped those four lines sink into my bones and take root, to a point where I find myself still breathing out those words habitually throughout the day.

It’s easy to repeat the Doxology after a day when the sun is shining and everything is going your way. It’s easy to stand and sing praises when your life is an adventure and the hand of God is evident in every day. But sometimes a tornado sweeps through your life, literally or figuratively, and you’re stuck figuring out which way is up again.

The Doxology is a piece of quiet comfort to me. It’s a simple song full of strength, and one that can almost be finished in one breath. It’s a song for times when we’re not eloquent or put together, for when all we know to do is to acknowledge that God is with us.

When we find our place at the table of God surrounded by the people of God, praise should be pouring off our lips. Our Creator delights in us every day, in every moment. This should lead us to delight in Him in the same way, to live and breathe that Doxology every day and in every moment. The good and the bad, the happy and the sad—whether the sun is shining or a tornado is coming.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Chelsey