A Broken Mended Faith
This article originally appeared on John Gallagher’s personal blog, All Is Grace.
“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desire. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”
I try to keep a regular daily prayer time. My practice is to walk while I pray. While not every time I pray, I often include some singing in my prayer time. (If you have not done this, you are missing out on some blessings.). The problem for me is one of my vocal cords is paralyzed. This led me to play a song in order to “sing.” Yesterday the song I was led to was “How Great Are You Lord” by Robin Mark. I could not do it; not even hit the right note – just a croak. I went through that song twice in that prayer time being broken by the Spirit to sing in faith “how great are the things that You have done for me.” Don’t get me wrong. The statement is true when I look over my life and other areas God has worked. But this gaping hole of thus far not healing my voice is heart wrenching. I haven’t figured out how to worship without singing. I have to fight off envy when I hear the clarity in the voices of others. And I had to come to the place of “singing” by faith – whether He completely heals my voice or not, whether He gives me enough voice to do what I need to do or not.
Then, This morning these words from Psalms came to me in my personal time with the Lord. They speak to my need, my faith my trust. Whatever you are going through, take these words to heart. They are words about relationship – our relationship with the Lord.
Relationships require interaction. In our relationship with the Lord interaction is necessary. Our part of the interaction requires faith in God keeping His promises. In these verses our part is to “take delight in the Lord”, to “Commit your way” to him, and “to trust in Him.” God’s part is to give you your heart’s desire, and to act in your behalf. We do not do our part to get what God has to give. He is not a candy machine. We do our part because of what God does for us though undeserving. His giving of our heart’s desire and acting on our behalf is grace, not earned. Therefore, our part is a love and gratitude choice. It is a choice of faith in the graciousness and loving kindness of God.
So, take delight in Him today – in spite of circumstances. Commit your way to Him even if the next step does not look so great. Trust in Him to do you good – not matter what you see or how you feel. He will act. He promised