The “flesh” loves noise pollution, the “spirit” can hear a whisper!

As we continue to deal with what we do when confronted with a decision, while waiting on the Lord for direction, lets remember the first step we take.

1. Pour your complaint out to the Lord

An example is Psalm 102, it helped me when I was in the midst of a huge decision and was feeling overwhelmed about the situation:

The next step leads us to the opposite of what our flesh feels. Our flesh tries to convince us that God is against us, but nothing is further from the truth.

2. Understand how loving our God is!

Luke 15:11–24 And He said, “A man had two sons. “The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. “So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”  “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him  “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;  and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Are you learning about Him? People blame Him and they have not taken time to learn about Him. God never desires us to fail, that is from the enemy! God’s desire is plainly stated in Scripture:

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

As you give yourself to the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart!

 3. Understand the Power of your God!

This can only happen if you let Him reveal Himself to you!

1 Kings 19:9–13 There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Many times the waiting is what finally quiets our flesh enough to allow the Lord to speak. I cannot speak for anyone else, but as for myself, I can be very impatient. I want an encounter with God and I want it right away! However, God knows what it takes and how long it takes to prepare my heart to really listen…so all I can do is to encourage you to continue to wait. No one can have contact with God and stay the same, remember Job, he cried out, he understood how loving God is, but not until God revealed Himself did Job find peace.

The God that Noah knew that shut the door of safety for Noah and his family; the God that Joseph knew that rescued him from the pit and raised him to be second in power in Egypt; the God that David knew that slew a giant with a stone and a sling; the God that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew that stood with them in the fire and did not let even the smell of smoke come upon their clothes, He is the same God now as He was then. When the time is right He will reveal Himself to you and guide you.

Consider these two questions as you seek the Lord: Who really is in control of your situations? Who do you want to be in control?

Being “Still” before the Lord does not mean doing “Nothing!”

As we closed this section of Judges 14 – we were left with a statement that in reality became a prophetic utterance of Samson’s life:

v. 20 But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.

Sadly, this is a good summation of Samson's life! All that he had potentially, he missed out on.

Who are some others that missed Potential?

Some that come to my mind are; Adam, Moses, Solomon, Asa, Judas, Ananias & Sapphira. All of these folks made major decisions based on an emotional channel.

Many times when we are trying to make decisions based on convictions I find many people saying that they become frustrated because they are in the “gap” waiting for a sense that it was time to make that decision but very frustrated over the situation as it is now. This is when it becomes very dangerous; our frustration can drive us to a decision that is based more on emotion than on conviction.

It is important that we find a way to patiently wait for our sense of God’s desire in a matter, (Conviction) so we do not give in with our desire to just resolve the situation immediately. (Emotion) We call this “being still” before the Lord. Sadly many think this means doing nothing, which actually will exasperate the issue. No one can ever turn his or her mind off, so if we do nothing, our mind has nothing to think on except where we are at that moment, which brings more frustration. We need to be proactive in dealing with our emotions.

I have founds several things help me dealing with my impatient emotions, while I am waiting on the Lord.

1. Pour your complaint out to the Lord

An example is Psalm 102, it helped me when I was in the midst of a huge decision and was feeling overwhelmed about the situation:

A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.

        

Ps 102:1-7 Hear my prayer, O Lord! And let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly. For my days have been consumed in smoke, And my bones have been scorched like a hearth. My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away, Indeed, I forget to eat my bread. Because of the loudness of my groaning My bones cling to my flesh. I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places. I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

Have you talked with God about your feelings? Not just the problem, but how you feel about it. Just like the body gets sick when not exercised so will the mind. Much of what we call mental illness is caused by not really letting your intellect and emotions work through situations.

I have 2 more approaches to suggest, but let me stop here to deal with the outcome of feeling overwhelmed: Discouragement. Many times the war we feel going on inside can drive us to some very anger driven behavior. It reminds me of this story:

An Englishman was sitting between two grouchy old ladies on a train. They were arguing over whether the window should be shut or open. One of them had opened the window. "If you don't shut this window, I'm gonna' die of pneumonia," one whined. "If you don't let me leave this window open, I'm gonna' die of heat stroke," the other grouched. They made so much noise fussing and fuming that the conductor came over. The Englishman spoke up at last:  "I have a suggestion. Why don't we put the window down, and the one who's gonna get pneumonia will die.  Then we'll put the window up, and the one that will suffer heat stroke will die, too.  Then we'll have peace!"

That is not the kind of peace we want! How can we deal with discouragement in a way that brings not only peace but also growth?

In October 2013 I did a 6 part Devo on dealing with discouragement, if you are interested just go to my blog page http://gwmnate.blogspot.com/ and scroll down to the Library of Devos and click on ►  09/29/13 - 10/06/13 that is where they begin. Just to help now – here are the steps, which are described in greater detail in the Devos of 2013:

Steps in handling Discouragement:

[1] Establish certain things:

{A} Set the record Straight:

         

1. Deal With Guilt

2. Deal With Lies

{B} Separate yourself from sources of discouragement - NOT PROBLEMS BUT SOURCES OF PROBLEMS

1. Establish a time and place to commune with the Lord

2. Turn off people with little or no faith

3. Seek out examples: Read Christian Biographies

{C} Stand Still - Do not make decisions in that state of mind, there is no sense of reality. Remember this does not mean doing nothing. Go to the Lord through prayer and the Word until you hear Him speak to you. 

{D} Change direction of attention:

1. Look at God's reputation

2. Remember your position in Christ

{E} Change your normal reactions

1. Instead of Complaining and throwing a pity party – Give thanksgiving to God.

2. Instead of with drawling inside and becoming very private - Seek support

{F} Change your idea of success – Remember the principle of the birth of your vision, the death of your vision and the resurrection of your vision by God!

When you feel that urge to push through with a decision, yet lack a clear conviction, first go and pour out your heart to the Lord. If your feeling discouraged, do not sit and meditate on how discouraged you are, take proactive steps to deal with it and grow!