When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul. [Ps 94: 19]
I don’t know what it is about the night and our anxious thoughts multiplying. I have been restless at night for over three weeks now. My anxious thoughts or to put it another way my disquieting thoughts, torment my mind and have been interrupting my sleep. I have found myself waking up periodically throughout the night and immediately praying seeking God to reveal His counsel for me. Some times I drift back to sleep after a few minutes of prayer and at other times I get up and read the scriptures. This is what I did this morning at 3:57 a.m. and this is when I stumbled across this verse.
Many of you who are reading this know exactly what I am going through. You have multitudes of anxious thoughts or disquieting thoughts running through your mind. My thoughts are not anxiety out of fear but rather trying desperately to hear the Lord clearly on a matter and discern His direction. Those are the thoughts that have multiplied within me. You have your own thoughts as well. Anxious thoughts about the future, about job security, family issues, how you will make ends meet at the end of the month and the list could go on. I know many of you have not slept peacefully in a long time.
Not being able to hear God clearly has been a huge frustration to me. It has dominated my thinking and my prayers. I can honestly say at this season of life I want to hear clearly from the Lord more than I want any other thing, yet God has chosen to keep me in the dark for a season. As I have wrestled in prayer over the past few weeks it is comforting to find a nugget of truth from the scriptures that keeps me going. In this time when my anxious thoughts have multiplied within me, instead of panicking and doing something impulsive I have continued to sit before the Lord and plead for His voice to penetrate the deafening silence. I have continued to soak my soul in the scriptures to learn more of Him. You know what I have found? Peace!
Though I cannot tell you I have those answers to the questions that have plagued my heart and mind for these several weeks, God has provided consolation and solace for me. When I am with Him and in His word He gives me great comfort. I still do not have His clear counsel yet but I do have His presence and for now that is more than enough to sustain me. He is refreshing to my soul. I find His consolations a true delight to my spirit. Not only does the Lord provide the peace that I need [Phil 4:6-7] but His consolations produce a security that I cannot find from any other source.
Anxious thoughts run rampant in this society and it is amazing what people turn to in a desperate attempt to find something, anything that can help them cope. Some turn to illicit sex, drugs, alcohol, and fantasies vainly hoping to numb and erase the anxious thoughts. All these things do is to add to anxiety. Cheap thrills and immoral frills never end our anxious thoughts. They are cheap substitutes for the God of peace.
Today I urge you to open the book of Psalms and seek the God of comfort and consolation who alone has the innate ability to calm your mind and give peace to your troubled and tormented soul. As for me, though I still do have the answers I have been franticly searching for, my soul has found tranquility and great delight in the Lord and His Word. I will soon go back to sleep peacefully trusting God to reveal His heart and mind to me when He is ready to reveal it. His counsel to me this morning is to rest in Him and to continue to wait on Him. His counsel will prove timely for you in your situation as well. When we seek Him and soak in the truth of the scriptures our anxious thoughts will no longer multiply but they will begin to be divided and eventually they will be erased.
My boys do not have anxious thoughts. They sleep peacefully in the love and security of our home. They feel safe because of a doting mother’s watchful eye and a protective father who stands ready to defend and rescue. You and I have a Heavenly Father who has our lives firmly in the grip of His hands. He does not need sleep. [Is 40:28] If He is going to be awake all night watching over us then we ought to allow that consolation to help us sleep more peacefully. If we would just take the time to listen to His consolations our hearts and minds could exchange anxiety for tranquility. All of us could use some more of that.
I don’t know what it is about the night and our anxious thoughts multiplying. I have been restless at night for over three weeks now. My anxious thoughts or to put it another way my disquieting thoughts, torment my mind and have been interrupting my sleep. I have found myself waking up periodically throughout the night and immediately praying seeking God to reveal His counsel for me. Some times I drift back to sleep after a few minutes of prayer and at other times I get up and read the scriptures. This is what I did this morning at 3:57 a.m. and this is when I stumbled across this verse.
Many of you who are reading this know exactly what I am going through. You have multitudes of anxious thoughts or disquieting thoughts running through your mind. My thoughts are not anxiety out of fear but rather trying desperately to hear the Lord clearly on a matter and discern His direction. Those are the thoughts that have multiplied within me. You have your own thoughts as well. Anxious thoughts about the future, about job security, family issues, how you will make ends meet at the end of the month and the list could go on. I know many of you have not slept peacefully in a long time.
Not being able to hear God clearly has been a huge frustration to me. It has dominated my thinking and my prayers. I can honestly say at this season of life I want to hear clearly from the Lord more than I want any other thing, yet God has chosen to keep me in the dark for a season. As I have wrestled in prayer over the past few weeks it is comforting to find a nugget of truth from the scriptures that keeps me going. In this time when my anxious thoughts have multiplied within me, instead of panicking and doing something impulsive I have continued to sit before the Lord and plead for His voice to penetrate the deafening silence. I have continued to soak my soul in the scriptures to learn more of Him. You know what I have found? Peace!
Though I cannot tell you I have those answers to the questions that have plagued my heart and mind for these several weeks, God has provided consolation and solace for me. When I am with Him and in His word He gives me great comfort. I still do not have His clear counsel yet but I do have His presence and for now that is more than enough to sustain me. He is refreshing to my soul. I find His consolations a true delight to my spirit. Not only does the Lord provide the peace that I need [Phil 4:6-7] but His consolations produce a security that I cannot find from any other source.
Anxious thoughts run rampant in this society and it is amazing what people turn to in a desperate attempt to find something, anything that can help them cope. Some turn to illicit sex, drugs, alcohol, and fantasies vainly hoping to numb and erase the anxious thoughts. All these things do is to add to anxiety. Cheap thrills and immoral frills never end our anxious thoughts. They are cheap substitutes for the God of peace.
Today I urge you to open the book of Psalms and seek the God of comfort and consolation who alone has the innate ability to calm your mind and give peace to your troubled and tormented soul. As for me, though I still do have the answers I have been franticly searching for, my soul has found tranquility and great delight in the Lord and His Word. I will soon go back to sleep peacefully trusting God to reveal His heart and mind to me when He is ready to reveal it. His counsel to me this morning is to rest in Him and to continue to wait on Him. His counsel will prove timely for you in your situation as well. When we seek Him and soak in the truth of the scriptures our anxious thoughts will no longer multiply but they will begin to be divided and eventually they will be erased.
My boys do not have anxious thoughts. They sleep peacefully in the love and security of our home. They feel safe because of a doting mother’s watchful eye and a protective father who stands ready to defend and rescue. You and I have a Heavenly Father who has our lives firmly in the grip of His hands. He does not need sleep. [Is 40:28] If He is going to be awake all night watching over us then we ought to allow that consolation to help us sleep more peacefully. If we would just take the time to listen to His consolations our hearts and minds could exchange anxiety for tranquility. All of us could use some more of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment