"13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;" Psalm 27:13-14 (read the entire Psalm)
This past Saturday we had our second InJoy virtual retreat! We had some technical difficulty - technology was not great - but the messages from two Godly women were inspiring, uplifting, encouraging, and challenging! Lisa McKay focused on Expecting Something Good! I wanted to share some of my own insights from her message and then invite you to join me in the forums for her
power point.
Psalm 27 is known as a passage that paints a picture of fearless trust in God. I have asked myself the question in the last few days,
"Do I have fearless trust in my God?" "Do I expect that He is and will act on my behalf for my good or for my harm?" "Do I expect something good from Him or am I ruled by the fear of this world?" "Do I have a stronghold of fear?"
Final question, "Do I expect and believe that I will see goodness from the Lord in my "land of the living?" 
Is it just me, or does it seem to get harder and harder to expect this kind of goodness from God in the land that we are living? I mean, come on, I know that everyone is not going through difficulty in your church or personal life everyday but isn't it true that if you personally are not close to despair, you know someone that is.......? So what do we do? Well, first you and I cannot
DESPAIR. I think we need to check out our belief quotient? What do we believe?
I do believe that I will (even if it is a long, long time period according to my time frame) see the goodness of the Lord IN the LAND OF THE LIVING. The previous phrase is a key! This phrase, "land of the living" suggests that though this daily life is full of death and loss, there is life all around us. Sometimes, the "land of the living" has to come to the "land of the dead" and wake us up! We need to infuse our trial times with the truth of the Word of God. Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary." Galatians 6:9.
When it becomes unbearable in the "land of the dead" and our belief is weak and our hearts grow weary - you and I need to throw ourselves upon the mercy seat of our Father. We need to sit still and seek His face!
Psalm 46:10 The word picture for this Psalm is that in the midst of an all out hellish war you and I are to let our hands hang limply to our sides. We are to turn our eyes and head to the sky and we are to seek only the presence of our God. The point is that we are to seek Him - not our activity, trial, or just daily life. We must cry out from our Spirits to the God of this universe and let Him minister to us, heal us, sustain us and raise us in the "land of the living." Too many times we just try to keep moving. We keep fighting out the daily battle. We are tired, weary, beaten. He just wants us to keep seeking Him above anything else. Then despair will not overtake us!
There is something about stillness that will heal us from the inside out. What do you think? Meet me in the
forums (click on the highlighted word) or share your comments on the blog.
Lisa would love to hear from you on her points from
power point. Not Despairing but Expecting!
Diane Nix
Contagiousjoy4him.com
Micah 6:8; 7:7
John 16:33; 15:5
