So Simple Yet So Hard

REFERENCE: Psalms 37:3-7 Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart´s desires.

5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

7 Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don´t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

Observation: It seems so simple: "trust in the Lord and do good" yet it is so hard. Worry consumes us, this life beats us up and makes trusting hard. Our flesh wants to do anything but "good". We always seem driven to the allurements of the dark side. Yet, those simply commands have with them the promise of living in safety and prosperity--something we all want.

Perhaps the verses that follow give us some insight into how to live this great but challenging way.

"Put your delight in the Lord". We can not delight in the Lord if we don't first commit ourselves to simply hanging out with Him regularly. The Bible promises us that in His presence is fulness of joy. We will never know if we don't go there and go there regularly. When we enjoy ourselves in His presence we will discover a God Who is completely worthy of our trust. When we fill our time only with the worries and pressures of this world it is easy to start that mindset to consume us and destroy our peace.

Two more helpful things this verse suggests: commit everything you do to the Lord and be patient. Commitment suggests two things, submission to His purposes and covering what we do with intercession, asking for His help in all we do. There is something powerful and peaceful in knowing, as we face a new challenge, that we are doing God's stuff and not our own. When we commit the details of our lives to God and simply ask; "what do You have for me to do today", God can, and will, correct, direct, confirm and ultimately bless what we are to be doing. That is the place where we can be peaceful and confident.

Still, there is that patience part. We want it all and we want it now! That is not the way God's Kingdom works. It is in the waiting that we learn to trust. It is through time that we see God at work in our lives.

Finally there is this: "Don´t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes." In fact wisdom would advise us not to compare our lives, blessings or trials to others. We simply have no idea what they face in secret or in thier own hearts or minds. We need to keep our focus on our relationship, trust and obedience to God rather than on others and what is happening in their lives.

If we live this way God promises blessings and prosperity. It is absolutely worth the pursuit.

Application/Confession: There is so much in these verses that I need to grow in. I don't always trust God as I should. My delight is, too often, in other things rather than the Lord. I can get so impatient and envy God's blessings in other people's lives. After reading this passage, I realize I have a lot to work on with the Lord.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me, more than anything, to simply delight myself in You. I know that You will make everything else work out. Help me, teach me, be with me.