The search is on, sometimes we put ourselves in the game to understand what’s going on…
Sometimes, understanding comes in a poem:
“If our ways by thee be order’d,
And thy name by us confess’d,
Then thy presence shall go with us,
And thy peace shall give us rest.
If in all the eye be single,
Clean the hands, and pure the breast,
Then they presence shall go with us,
And thy guidance give us rest.” (CH Spurgeon,Devotional Bible pg. 315).
But are these just words? Are these just ‘nice’ words that ‘good people’ read? Who are these words for? the poem makes me think of a Psalm:
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the
LORD upholds him with His hand.” (Ps. 37:23).
But who is a ‘good man’, are there such things? “There are none righteous, no not one.” Romans 3 verse 10 tells us. The Bible tells us “there is none who understands;” (Romans 3:11). Where is understanding then?
Desperate for ‘understanding’ I read on, to another poem:
“Jesus, full of every grace, Now reveal thy smiling face;
Grant the joys of sin forgiven, Foretaste of the bliss of heaven.
All my guilt to thee is known; Thou art righteous,
thou alone,
All my help is from thy cross; All beside I count but loss.
Lord, in thee I now believe,
Wilt thou, wilt thou not forgive?…” CH Spurgeon Devotional Bible
So, in this poem, I see Jesus is ‘good’. Maybe we all feel as the one who came to Jesus in the Bible Story some of us heard when we were young: ““Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”(Matthew 19:16).
“So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? “No one is good but One, that is, God.”(Matthew 19:17).
Do you cry out for understanding? “A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles.” (Proverbs 1:5,6).
Yes, it feels like unraveling ‘riddles’. Searching for understanding…where does understanding come from to know God? Like finding the ‘hidden thimble’ are we ‘warm’ and ‘hot’ in our search? Or are we ‘cold’, ‘way cold’ in our search?
“My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you…” (Proverbs 2:1).
God talks about ‘words’. Yes, ‘words’: “So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;…”(Proverbs 2:2). Do you want to incline and apply? Perhaps it feels like a game of ‘hide the thimble’. Do you want to ‘play the game?’ But,
THIS IS NOT A GAME! This is LIFE itself!
“Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures, (even more than ‘hidden thimbles!)…“then you will UNDERSTAND the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:3-5, emphasis mine).
Is there affliction? It is not for ‘bad’ but God uses it for good: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word. (Psalm 119:67).
God’s WORD! Life itself…Direction? Guidance? Counsel? “For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6). Searching for understanding means we’ve got to perhaps initiate, to take courage and stand up for the Lord who gave all for us. Do we understand all this? It takes courage to say, “Yes, count me in!” and go searching for treasure so you be ‘whole’ again!
They aren’t just words, oh no, they are life. Even the poems can set us right: “Jesus, the sinner’s Friend, to Thee,Lost and undone, for aid I flee; Weary of earth, myself, and sin, Open thine arms and take me in.
Pity and heal my sin-sick soul; ‘Tis thou alone canst make me whole; Fallen, till in me thine image shine, And lost I am, till thou art mine.” (CH Spurgeon, Devotional Bible, 317!)
There’s nothing like ‘doing hard things’ and saying “Yes” to the search to understanding the ‘riddles’ and discovering all along, the efforts put forward lead to peace in knowing and understanding “He calls me His own and He’s covered me in His righteousness!
Now, to reality and laundry… but thankful for that time in ‘searching’ for the …real treasures!
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