THE CYCLE OF VICTORIOUS LIVING

 

In the summer of 1971, my brother Jim and I traveled in the Seattle area leading eight weeks of revival meetings in eight churches there. We were young and full of faith, (interrupted by some random moments of sheer foolishness). In spite of it all, the Lord brought a wonderful measure of blessing way beyond our ability as we trusted in Him that summer.

It was during the Jesus movement, and there was an almost atmospheric sense of God’s presence everywhere we went. Jim would do most of the preaching and I would lead the worship and often we’d swap. And along the way, God manifested Himself with wonderful power and fruitfulness. It was a life-changing summer for us and, I pray, for others.

PSALM 37

… became one of our “go-to” messages of the eight or ten we had in our tool bag. We both preached this blessed passage, highlighting it with a circle for a visual aid. We would start at 12 o’clock on the circle and teach the life-giving directives of Psalm 37:4-7, going clockwise, with small phrases to illustrate.

As I am reading it this morning in my devotions in the Lord’s presence, I am reminded how victorious such a life can be when we simply, humbly follow God’s gracious leadership.

12 PM: COMMIT (Hand it over)

Commit your way to the Lord (vs. 5)

With every moment of life, we must be willing to “hand it over” to the Lord. Like handing a watch to a fine watchmaker, we must actually place the issues of our lives in His hands. Only He can fix them.

3 PM: TRUST (Lean hard)

Trust in the Lord and do good (Psalm 37:3)

As we commit issues to Him, we must trust Him to do what only He can do, believing in His faithfulness to His promises. The whole “purpose of the exercise” of everything God causes or allows in our lives is to teach us faith—to bring us from independence to dependency upon Him.

6 PM: DELIGHT (Look up)

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (vs. 4)

Praise is the ultimate expression of faith because we believe Him enough to delight in Him. You will know whether you are “praying through” an issue if you have come to the point where you’re giving thanks.

9 PM: REST (Leave it there)

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him (vs. 7)

Not only must we commit and trust and delight, but we must also be willing to wait on the Lord. He will take care of all things with perfect timing. We need not wrest it out of His capable hands.

Notice that all of these truths carry a common phrase: “in the Lord.” It is the great secret to come to Him and commit, trust, delight, and rest IN HIM.

What is making you anxious? Keeping you up at night? Although this simple cycle was used by a couple of college boys in the 70’s, it was written by wise David and, beyond all, penned by the Holy Spirit. It is God’s instruction to you right now, whatever you’re facing.

The formula still works. Take the issue that’s troubling you, commit it into God’s hands; trust in Him so much that you delight and rejoice; and rest in the Lord as you leave it there.