Teach Me Your Way

The night is still, but I am allowed no sleep.  The day's trauma is still with me, for I have failed.  Lord, I know that there is a purpose behind everything you do (Rom 8:28), but grant me the wisdom to understand and accept your will.  As the wise Solomon said, "In the day of prosperity, be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other" (Ecc 7:14).

Jesus said not to be anxious over daily living, and that if I seek His kingdom and righteousness, He will provide for me.  Am I being selfish, to be so disappointed by my own failures, so worried over my own future?

There must be a special reason for God's choosing and saving me from a life of emptiness to one of hope.  Countless others wait for His calling.  The commission of the Lord is to preach the gospel of eternal life to all people, but I have always been busy in the pursuit of my own goals. Maybe God has shown me pain and distress to remind me of that commission.

Lord, I am unworthy.  Now I understand you a little more, and how you feel when I sin and turn against you.  You were mocked, spat on, scourged, and nailed on the cross.  How much pain you suffered for me!  How many times have I sinned and gone astray, rejecting your love?  Looking sadly down at me, you are still able to say, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you" (.Jer 31:3).  Forgive me.

Though the apostle Paul suffered continuously for the sake of the gospel, he always encouraged the believers to rejoice in all things. He told the Philippians, "For I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content, I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and longer, abundance and want.  I can do all things in him who strengthens me" (Php 4:11-13).  In my afflictions, I see the significance of his exhortation all the more clearly.  As long as I continue to place my trust in Jesus, His providential care will be with me.  I need not doubt Him anymore, for He says, "... my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither your ways my ways.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Is 55:8-9).

The long, dark night is over, and the dawn is breaking. in my weakness, I turned to my Heavenly Father, who strengthened me.  In my emptiness and despair, I trusted in Him, and lie lifted my burden from me, showing me His way.

            "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your teacher.  And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it"' (Is 30:20, 21).