In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. 15I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. 16I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.—Psalm 119:14-16
As you read the post below, you may find yourself thinking: “He’s writing about the wrong verse.” So, please, stay with me to the end…
In 2011, I was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. It was a significant procedure, and had it not been for God’s common grace of surgeons, hospital, and medications, my earthly life would have come to an end.
I remember being alone in my room three days after my surgery. I had taken a turn for the worse and I felt as horrible as I have ever felt in my life. I had a nasty tube between my nose and stomach. I felt like I was going to explode, and I was feeling sorry for myself. I was sinking into despair. I was thinking, “God is not good to me. He is not big enough or kind enough to help me through this situation”. Then I consciously thought, “I need a verse,” and the Spirit prompted me with something that I could “fix my eyes on…”:
James 1:2-3—Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
That was it. I began praying, Lord, make me joyful. I’m falling into despair here. This tube is disgusting. I feel terrible. Please make me joyful. I felt no different… So I again recited the verses from James that I had memorized, and again I prayed, Lord, make me joyful. And again, I felt no joy. As I meditated on the verse, the Spirit prompted me with a question…
Does this verse say, “Ask the Lord to make you joyful?” After some time of meditation, I concluded, “No. It is telling me to count it all joy” (my emphasis). I had not been counting my situation as joyful. I wanted to be joyful, but I was going about it my way. I was not delighting in God’s way!
So I began to count it all joy by thanking the Lord for this trial:
- Lord, thank you for the extremely helpful (and disgusting) tube in my stomach. How would I feel if I didn’t have the tube?
- Lord, thank you for this hospital.
- Lord, thank you the specific surgeon who was on-call to perform the surgery at 1 a.m.
- And Lord, thank you that I made it to the emergency room before passing out in pain, sparing my wife from thinking I had died en route.
Reflecting on this life experience, I thank the Lord for allowing me to participate in the beautiful truth of Psalm 119:14-16.
In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. 15I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. 16I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
As I delighted in His testimonies, God began a work in my heart. As I fixed my eyes on His ways, a measure of steadfastness was added to my life. I remember feeling joy in that moment. I remember thinking, “Brian, don’t waste this surgery, and don’t waste how you’re feeling physically.” In just a matter of minutes, I had gone from despair to joy…
by meditating on God’s Word previously committed to memory.
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Think about it:
- In your current circumstances, have you fixed your eyes on “your ways”? How are His ways different?
- What role does meditation on the Word play in the fight of faith?
- What role does memorization of the Word play in the fight of faith?
- What must accompany delight… to be delight? (Hint: See Psalm 34:8.)
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Brian Eaton | Sun, Nov 9, 2014 | Set 4 Week 46
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