Hello Parents and Friends of CCS,
I pray this email finds you experiencing the fullness of Jesus Christ in the Spirit! One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 25, a Psalm of David. Today I’d like to share a few thoughts with you that came out of a devotional I gave to our Executive Team this week.
I encourage you to read Psalm 25 (https://www.esv.org/Psalm+25/) in its entirety to gain context.
So many Christians that I know today are living life “under it” — the opposite of a victorious Christian life. In fact for some, the very phrase “victorious Christian life” smacks of “triumphalism” and an unwillingness to acknowledge the difficulties and suffering of life in this fallen world.
Nothing could be further than the truth. David helps us just here. He clearly is having a tough time, and he notes in verse 19 that “…my enemies (are) numerous, and they hate me violently.”
This is definitely not a happy, clappy situation.
And in verse 2, David shows us the secret to his victorious perspective: “My God, I trust in you.”
Consider this progression:
Belief: I believe this is true; God could help
Faith: I know this is true; God will help
Trust: I am thoroughly convinced that God can and will help, acting with justice according to the counsel of His perfect will, and at just the right time, for my good and the good of all concerned.
This is faith applied over time, and this is evidence of victorious living in Christ, even in the midst of great struggle.
So how do I get to that place from where I happen to be right now? I believe David gives us a “backstage pass” in verses 14-15:
“The secret counsel of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He reveals His covenant to them. My eyes are always on the LORD, for He will pull my feet out of the net.”
Trigger warning: I’m about to say something that will be annoying to many Christians, simply because they have heard it over and over and have decided it is not really possible for them to do.
Here it is: The way to learn to “trust and obey” is to spend copious amounts of time sitting in the presence of Jesus, “beholding” Him in His word, by His Spirit, and by choosing to trust that everything that has come to you has come through His loving hand. Further, it’s choosing to trust that He is with you in it, no matter what your emotions and your “gut” tells you.
This course of action, of course, cuts right against the grain of modern self-help teaching.
From a Kingdom of God perspective, “following your heart” and “validating your feelings” is often not the best idea, given the incredible ability of Satan to stir up anti-God feelings in the depths of our inner persons.
David understands this. Once again in verse 2:
“Do not let me be disgraced; do not let my enemies gloat over me.”
This is where many Christians stop. But David immediately pivots to this statement of certain trust in verse 3:
“No one who waits for you will be disgraced; those who act treacherously without cause will be disgraced.”
David makes it clear. He’s not hoping that God will act. He knows that God will act on his behalf. It’s a settled thing, a perspective that only can come by “waiting on” i.e. spending much time before the LORD in prayer and praise and meditation on the word of God.
Hence David can say in verse 1,
“To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O God, in You [I have unwavering] trust [and I rely on You with steadfast confidence]…” (AMP)
Is this a guilt trip, a call to add this “sitting before the LORD” to an already over-busy life? Not at all. You and I are very busy, so in order to make space and time to wait on God we will need to make some tough decisions.
Something has to give — something will have to go. Hard stuff for sure, but oh so worth it in the end!
As we prepare for another summer, let’s decide together to make space for Jesus in a greater way than we ever have. I believe (I trust!) that if we do that, by the first day of school in August we will be able to look back and say,
‘O Father, I am trusting in You, and You have helped. There is victory for me, even in the midst of the struggle.’
I close with verse 21, adapted to plural:
“May integrity and what is right watch over (us), for (we) wait for You.”
For CCS and the Kingdom,
Tom