Feb
25
Men..
It is in our nature to act.. To take control and make things happen. This makes a ton of sense to our masculine natures. God created us for action!
So, the million dollar question becomes- When is my action to be taking the bull by the horns and when is it to be a work of faith and stillness?
Your reply.. ” C’mon Jonathan! You know the Bible says, ” faith without works is dead”! “
Funny, I knew that would be your response. 
I know you can make a strong and compelling argument for your game-plan. I have done it many times with results that were not pretty and quite painful. Please hear me loud and clear…. The path of sorrows is lined with good intentions!
Taking the proverbial “Bull by the horns” is scary no doubt. But, I believe the hardest action for us to take is that of faith and stillness. It is so counter-intuitive to reason.
The old “Bull” can seem like a real stretch to us, like we are really taking risks. The truth is- you are but it seems like a natural progression to you. One you can “get your head around!”
Now, taking the path of faith and stillness seems down right ludicrous in comparison. Choosing to be still before The Lord is just as much action and a much higher work than the “path of the bull”.
It is truly “Living On The Edge!”
So, I challenge you to take the path of faith and stillness. To learn to wait upon The Lord.
More food for thought….
Psalm 37:7-8
7 Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
He that can have Patience, can have what he will- Benjamin Franklin
All things come to him who waits – provided he knows what he is waiting for. -Woodrow T. Wilson
Isaiah 40:30-33 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Psalm 37:9 For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
Psalm 37:34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
Psalm 130:5-6 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
“Stand still” – keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, “Go forward.”
If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord’s people have always been a waiting people- Charles Spurgeon
I close with this from Streams In The Desert.
Faithful in waiting, Jonathan
Shut Up To Faith
“Shut up to faith” (Gal. 3:23).
God, in olden time suffered man to be kept in ward by the law that he might learn the more excellent way of faith. For by the law he would see God’s holy standard and by the law he would see his own utter helplessness; then he would be glad to learn God’s way of faith.
God still shuts us up to faith. Our natures, our circumstances, trials, disappointments, all serve to shut us up and keep us in ward till we see that the only way out is God’s way of faith. Moses tried by self-effort, by personal influence, even by violence, to bring about the deliverance of his people. God had to shut him up forty years in the wilderness before he was prepared for God’s work.
Paul and Silas were bidden of God to preach the Gospel in Europe. They landed and proceeded to Philippi. They were flogged, they were shut up in prison, their feet were put fast in the stocks. They were shut up to faith. They trusted God. They sang praises to Him in the darkest hour, and God wrought deliverance and salvation.
John was banished to the Isle of Patmos. He was shut up to faith. Had he not been so shut up, he would never have seen such glorious visions of God.
Dear reader, are you in some great trouble? Have you had some great disappointment, have you met some sorrow, some unspeakable loss? Are you in a hard place? Cheer up! You are shut up to faith. Take your trouble the right way. Commit it to God. Praise Him that He maketh “all things work together for good,” and that “God worketh for him that waiteth for him.” There will be blessings, help and revelations of God that will come to you that never could otherwise have come; and many besides yourself will receive great light and blessing because you were shut up to faith.
–C. H. P
***
“Great things are done when men and mountains meet,
These are not done by jostling in the street.”
