relationships (Psalm 112:1-10) Trustworthy Guidance

(Psalm 112:1-10) 

1   Praise the Lord!
     Blessed is a person who fears the Lord,
     Who greatly delights in His commandments.
2   His descendants will be mighty on the earth;
     The generation of the upright will be blessed.
3   Wealth and riches are in his house,
     And his righteousness endures forever.
4   Light shines in the darkness for the upright;
     He is gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
5   It goes well for a person who is gracious and lends;
     He will maintain his cause in judgment.
6   For he will never be shaken;
     The righteous will be remembered forever.

7   He will not fear bad news;
     His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8   His heart is firm, he will not fear,
     But will look with satisfaction on his enemies.
9   He has given freely to the poor,
     His righteousness endures forever;
     His horn will be exalted in honor.

10 The wicked will see it and be vexed,
     He will gnash his teeth and melt away;
     The desire of the wicked will perish.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

In our personal relationship with Jesus, it makes sense that we would awesomely respect our Lord and Savior, as well as love His commandments, guidance and discipline!  As a "younger" Christian, I didn't fully understand this last statement as I do now.  Yet, as I look back on all of my experiences with various mentors, coaches, directors and instructors, there should have been an "ah-ha moment" a lot sooner!  But that's almost the point... we are always learning, practicing and refining... and this is applicable to every facet in life.  Never mind studying and interning for some career path in the workforce, there is a lot of discipline and practice required just in sports, music and the art-world (for example).  

I've had coaches who did NOT know what they were doing.  Out of that, we were in the bottom at competitions, embarrassed and considered a joke by other teams, many of us wound up with serious injuries just from our workouts, and the workouts themselves were so unreasonable our joy was replaced with widespread frustration, lack of confidence in ourselves, contentions among teammates, and extreme distrust of the coach.  

Outcomes are so much different when we have excellent, experienced guidance from the person leading us (and a group).  Even when that coach tells you that you are doing something wrong, you will understand and want to make the necessary corrections, because otherwise it would mean a penalty against you and the team, or it would cause injury to yourself or someone else, or it will keep you from doing something well.  With a coach who is trusted and inspires confidence, we tend to be willing and even exited to put in the practice with sincere efforts, and compete according to all the rules of any given sport because in this way, we will experience success.  Even if we don't come in first place, if we have done everything well to the best of our abilities, we never have to walk away with our heads hanging.

Now let's apply this to our walk with God, who is all-knowing, all-powerful, AND He loves and cares about us!  He is our perfect heavenly Father, mentor, coach, director, instructor AND best friend.  He wants to guide us through life in absolutely everything we do, so that we can do all things well, with good outcomes that bless us and bring Him glory.  

When those around us are also trusting the Lord and what He says in His word, both at home and at church, we will experience unity in the Holy Spirit, who brings about the most amazing, in sync teamwork possible.  When we rely on God's strength, wisdom and love, we will experience His peace, confidence and courage.  And as we grow and mature in our faith, we learn to trust and believe in Him and His will, more and more.  Without a doubt, we will delight in God's commandments and guidance!