Trust
Who makes the crooked straight?
Come, children, and listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who among you loves life and desires long life to enjoy prosperity? Keep your tongue from evil-speaking and your lips from lying words. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to root out the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears them and delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and will save those whose spirits are crushed. Many are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver him out of them all. He will keep safe all his bones; not one of them shall be broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished. The Lord ransoms the life of his servants, and none will be punished who trust in him. - Psalm 34:11-22
The psalmist tells us that everything will work out well for those who fear God. The righteous shall overcome their troubles and those whose spirits are crushed will be saved.
But do we believe that?
The message is all about trust. If we trust in the Lord, we will have a better life than if we try to live without Him in our lives.
The interesting thing is you cannot prove this to someone. They have to experience God in their own time and in their own way. We choose to put God in our lives and that is what gives us the strength to overcome.
When the psalmist talks about fear of the Lord, he is talking about wanting God to be pleased with us, just as a child fears hurting his parents' feelings. When we want to please God, we live our lives better.
It would be nice if God would take over sometimes and just make everything right, but He doesn't work that way. He leaves the work of fixing up our messes to us, and to each other.
When we listen, we hear God tell us how to help those in need, and that is how He answers prayers. So, we should trust in God, and not want to cause Him grief about us. And all these things will be granted, through others like us who hear Him.
More to come...