Psalm 117 was my read for today. It's just two short little verses, so I spent some extra time talking with the Lord. We really need to return to a nation who gives Him glory, honor, thanks, and praise. It got me to thinking about Jonah and the message he delivered to the wicked Assyrians in Nineveh. Their sins were great against both each other and the Lord. He was ready to destroy them, but the Lord had compassion on them and sent Jonah to warn them, and they listened.
I was in my study Bible, reading the intro and the notes, and it referenced back to the prophet Amos, especially this one:
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24
I had to chew on this one a little bit. I looked at the notes in my study bible and it said that as natural life is abundant around rivers and streams because of the water, so man's life is abundant where there is justice and righteousness. What does that look like?
Another favorite verse of mine explains it and is found in Micah, which is:
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
The Lord desires us to do what is just, what is right, and in the same breath to also love mercy. But above all, to walk humbly with Him. Jesus told his disciples:
If you love me, you will obey what I command. John 14:15
The Lord longs for us to do what is right, not for His benefit, but for our benefit. He has told us what is good, right, and just. He even summed it up in a list of "Top Ten" found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. He even simplified it for one guy who asked which of the ten were the greatest:
The greatest commandment is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And the second is like it, to love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-40 & Mark 12:29-31
As much as the Lord desires us to love Him so we can love others in obedience to Him, so we long for the horse to obey us, not for our benefit, but for the horse's benefit. I work with a lot of horses who suffer anxiety, and fear and are disrespectful and downright dangerous to be around. I help them because they need help, and when they get the help and leadership they need, they become better horses. The same is true of us. When we surrender to the Lord and let Him take our burdens and give us the rest we long for, life gets better. It won't be perfect and easy, but it will be better.
Just as the horse's life gets better when they get it tough situations because they feel strength and peace with their rider, we also can face difficult times in this world because we can rest in the Lord.
What has the Lord been trying to work on with you? Is it something you don't want to give up? Let Him have it. He knows what is good for you. Trust Him fully; and do what is right.