Pastor Stephen Dedman

Category: Trust

Trust God’s Timing

Faith, Trust

‘For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’
2 Corinthians 6:2

God is never in a hurry and He is never late. God’s timing is always perfect. His schedule and our schedule may not be the same but He’s always right on time.

Our faith is tested when we learn to trust His timing. Waiting on God is a difficult thing to do when we are impatient.

At times it may seem like God is not listening but He is. It may seem like He is not meeting our needs but He is. God hears our prayers and He hears our cries.

The day that You need Him, God will be there to help. Don’t lose faith and never lose hope. And don’t ever think that He doesn’t care. He does care and He knows your needs.

Sometimes it can be frustrating having to wait on the Lord, but His plan for our lives is good. When we place our trust in His timing we can have total peace and joy.

Joseph had to trust God’s timing. He waited many years for the fulfillment of his dreams to come to pass. God was with him every step of the way. There was some trying times in his life but God timing was always perfect.

Trust that the Lord’s timing is perfect for you too. God wants to show you what you need to know when it’s the right time and place. Be patient and wait on the Lord. Good things come to those who wait upon the Lord.

Pray

Lord, I know Your timing is perfect. Give me knowledge and wisdom to discern the difference between my timing and Yours. Help me to wait on You.

The Lord Is With Me

Encouragement, Trust

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalms 23:4

When you read the first verse of Psalm 23 you will notice that David is talking about the Lord. He says, “The Lord is my Shepherd… He makes me to lie down… He leads me… He restores my soul.”

Then in verse 4 there is a change. He transitions and begins speaking to the Lord. He says, “You are with me… Your rod and staff comfort me.” David is getting personal with the Lord.

Sometimes it takes valleys of darkness to make us get personal with God. When everything seems to be going great we don’t get very personal with God. But the moment we enter into a dark, lonesome valley, we let the Lord know we mean business.

It’s in those times of being in the valley that we turn to Him for help and comfort. And He is always there for us! God wants to be close and personal to us.

How often do you get personal with God? In other words, when do you turn you situations over to the Lord and trust Him to carry you through? Most of the time it is late in the game when we are down and there is no way out.

Instead, we should be personal with God everyday and with everything. We shouldn’t wait until we are in a deep valley of despair to seek Him. We need to seek Him daily and openly.

We need to understand that God wants to be in every detail of our life. Not just the bad but the good as well. We praise Him when things are good and we praise Him when things are not so good. If we keep a personal walk with the Lord, we will know He is always with us.

Pray

Lord, forgive me of my sins. Bring joy into my heart today. Let me see your glory in every direction I go.

Honor And Glory To God

Encouragement, Trust

“Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”
Psalm 29:2

Psalm 29 uses the name “The LORD” (Yahweh) 18 times in 11 verses. It’s a holy and reverent name referenced to God. There is and has always been a great emphasis on the name of the LORD.

Words cannot completely describe or explain His majesty, power, and grace. His name is above all names. And His name is to be treated with reverence and never in vain.

We also reference the LORD as “Jehovah” taken from the four letters Y H V H. The Jews would never speak this name because it is so holy. 

Today we often hear someone saying the Lord’s name in vain or using it to swear by. We must always lift up the name of the Lord as a holy name. As verse 2 commands, we are to give glory to His name.

To give glory means to praise and honor. It means to worship or bow down before. When we worship and glorify the name of the LORD we recognize His character and nature. The idea of this Psalm is that man should bow in humble adoration of the greatness, beauty, and holiness of the LORD. 

The frightening takeaway from this devotional is that we don’t worship and glorify God as He deserves. We don’t give Him the worth that is due Him. We don’t give Him the glory that is to be given. If only we would worship Him like all of Heaven worships Him as we read in Revelation chapters 4&5.

This Psalm of David is a reminder for us to get our worship on. It’s time for us to give what is owed to the One and True God. We do so by praising His great name. We sing to Him. We pray to Him. And most importantly we serve Him.

Pray

Lord, You alone are deserving of praise and glory. Help me to remove myself from getting in the way of Your great works. Help me to share Your amazing grace to those who need it.