All this talk about who's getting married and who's no longer "single" has gotten me to a semi-low point of wondering who I'll be with and when it's going to happen.
I don't know about you, but when this occurs, impatience starts to surface and the danger to yield to self-pity is not far from happening.
1 Samuel 13:8-12 teaches us that looking at situations can wear us down. Feeling anxious, feeling pressured, feeling the negativity of the situation can lead us to going ahead of God.
Samuel commanded Saul to wait. Ultimately it was God's call to test His character and his trust in Him. But because he looked around, waited for days, felt pressured by his men (vs.7), etc, he compromised. He "felt compelled to offer the burnt offering" because he didn't know God well enough to be secure (1 Samuel 13:12). Because of this recklessness, Samuel prophecied that Saul's kingdom will not endure any longer.
RT: "If we are pressured there is a tendency we compromise. Compromise means lowering down God's standards."
Clearly, Saul leaned on his own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." His understanding was faulty. His understanding saw the frightening state. His understanding only saw the now, but God saw the big PICTURE.
Just like Saul, it's easy to panic. But we have to "guard our heart above all else". We have to protect it against thoughts that are contradicting to the Word and contradicting to who God is. When God says He is going to do something, You have to believe that the One who parted the seas will come through. Don't doubt. Look upwards and believe.
Stick close to the Lord (talking to self).
Ignite the JOY of your salvation everyday. When God's love is so strongly felt in our minds, our hearts, our souls and strength (Mark 12:30) we tend to forget we need someone else to fill us up.
Action Points:
1. Don't settle for less. Just because some Christian hottie dude comes along, doesn't automatically mean he's God's best.
2. Don't go ahead of God.
3. Guard your heart, don't look at people or your situation.
4. Do not lean on your own understanding.
5. Do not manipulate or orchestrate the situation just to meet your desires. If you do this, then you might as well settle for less.
6. Don't PANIC, woman! Chill in God's embrace!
7. Ignite the JOY of your SALVATION. Mark 12: 30!!!
"We need to become a me before we can become a we." - Michelle MicKeney Hammond
