Like a weaned child...
Our pastor's sermon this past Sunday was on Matthew 6:25-34. The passage on worry. So we're having an online discussion about the sermons on our church's website and this was my $0.02:
Interestingly enough, I'm also listening to recorded podcasts of a study on Psalm 131 this week:
Psalm 131
A song of ascents. Of David.
1 My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.
She has focused on verses one and two so far and I have been so convicted! So often, I am quick to judge God, questioning his ways or wondering if he really knows what he's doing in my life or in the world. Which flies in the face of a declaration that I trust in Him, and exhalts me to the place of knowing what's right, fair, timely, etc....
But the MOST convicting part has been her exposition of verse two---about quieting my heart and behaving like a weaned child. Which directly relates to that passage in Matthew that we heard on Sunday about anxiety. Our (my) anxious hearts are rarely quiet. There's always something to stress about: my financial needs, my circumstances, the circumstances of others, mismanaged situations of which I am aware, war, world hunger, unjustice, upcoming events, my abilities or lack thereof, the safety of people I care about, whether or not my kids will turn out okay, etc..
But because of God's faithfulness (has he ever proven otherwise?) and goodness, because of who He says He is, I quiet my heart with his truth. And my behavior should be that of a weaned child---not crying and fussing to show that I'm hungry or in pain or am wallowing in my own filth yet again, but rather resting confidently (and---dare I say it?---naively) in the fact that there is someone taking care of me.
I totally share the difficulty of making this knowledge sink into my heart and be manifest in my daily reality. It does resonate with my soul, though. And changing my worry habits will take discipline---the discipline of remembering God's faithfulness, of meditating on the truth of who he is, of nipping certain thought patterns in the bud...
posted by Lorie @ 10:13 AM
7 Comments:
I constantly have this verse come to me..thank you for the thoughts!
Well, if you like a man to pursue... you got to be sure he has good reason... but from the looks of things, I think many men would have good reason... thanks for stopping by!
Sure! You, too.
Isn't it a great one, Bethany?
These days it seems like stressing has become our new national pastime. It's almost like not being stressed out means you lack motivation or ambition.
I think you hit the nail on the head in that last paragraph. I know that I have to bring these kinds of thoughts and lack of trust before the Lord on a daily basis or they just take over.
Tru' dat, future roomie. :)
To still one's soul - what a task that can be. I'm still learning or relearning that one frequently when I meet up with troubling situations. But there's another verse that I keep needing to remind myself of which goes like "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee." That verse ministers to me when I bring it to mind.
There's a part of me that is so glad you haven't replaced this post yet. I keep coming back and re-reading it, wanting to be reminded of this over and over again.
I think it all comes down to this line: "But because of God's faithfulness (has he ever proven otherwise?) and goodness, because of who He says He is, I quiet my heart with his truth."
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