Psalm 27: 1, 13-14 (KJV)
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
…
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
Devotion
Imagine a jar of dirty water. You want to clear the dirt from the water, so, taking a spoon, you try to scoop the floating particles from the liquid. But each pass of your spoon stirs the water and you only manage to muddy the water and only remove a couple of pieces of dirt. You try to go faster, focusing on the debris, but soon the dirt is all you see – no clear water in the jar at all.
A more effective way to clear the jar of water of the dirt is to pour more water in to the container. Immediately all the debris overflows out of the jar, leaving only clear water behind.
The imagery presented above has stuck with me ever since I saw it in a social media post about positivity and negativity. To remove or mitigate the negative just pour in more positive or something along those lines. But this is applicable to how we perceive our suffering or grief or pain in our lives in relation to God. Pour more of God into the situation and all you will see is God. Or, in other words, “wait on the Lord” as the psalmist encourages in today’s reading. This is by no means a passive waiting but an active one – confidently trusting in God.
Wait on the Lord.
Prayer
Lord,
The waters of my life are incredibly murky. Pour through the caverns of my soul. Pour in me to overflow so that all that is left is You.
Amen.
Meggie Lineberger