His Bigger Plan
In these days where troubles seem to be increasing we sometimes find ourselves entangled in a problem of our situation or need, wondering why we are where we are, why we are doing what we are doing and why our problem leaves us feeling overcome instead of overcoming. During these occasions we indeed can stand still on His word and trust that His help is on the way. When a horse is entangled in loose wire the best thing he can do is stand still until His help arrives. We might learn from that analogy. When the horse fights to get away, the wire just seems to tighten around him securing him more tightly to the wire which entangles him. Wire on the fence is easily seen and avoided, but the loose wire from old uses left among the weeds and concealed by years of growth is just waiting for a wrong step.
Most of our trials and tribulations come unexpectedly to us, but none of them are unexpected to the Lord who knows all from the beginning of all things. Knowing He does know all, our reliance on Him will deliver us; His plan and design are foolproof. Psalm 37 reveals His promises to those who are righteous.
PSALM 37 18-29
The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. 19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.20 But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the Lord, Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous shows mercy and gives. 22 For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, but those cursed by Him shall be cut off.
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants are blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore. 28 For the Lord loves justice and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever
Entanglement comes easily when we are mixing the processes, methods and ways of the world with the ways that Jesus teaches us. Making a worldly response to a problem or need without the leading of the Lord will not produce the outcome Jesus intends for us. A common example might be using credit cards to get what we think we need instead of waiting on the divine provision of the Lord. God knows if we indeed need or not, and He promises to meet our needs. The real difficulty is when we are trying to mix worldly reasoning into what is supposed to be an inspired life. Of course the Lord knows when we will become entangled. He is waiting with wire cutters until we realize we are entangled and need to stand still. The entanglement will just get tighter and tighter, even to the point of wounds, until the moment we quit fighting on our own and we decide to stand still to the point of trust and submit ourselves to Him and allow Him to cut us from our bondage. You can imagine how difficult it would be to cut a horse from wire tangled around him while the horse is still fighting and kicking in the wire. Consider when we are entangled in bondages, but enter His rest, understanding to stand still, only moving when and in the way He alone directs, letting Him cut away our bondages. If we are fighting the entanglement of our own efforts we are so consumed by the bondage it draws all of our attention away from the only real source of Help, our Lord Jesus. Our standing still in His presence, listening and obedience to the Holy Spirit will deliver us from our bondages.