Sometimes God will put a word on my heart. Most of the time, I don’t know why or what direction He wants me to take it. Sometimes I don’t respond immediately. In the last couple of weeks, the word remember has been on my heart.
My husband recently gifted me Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, published by Foundations for an American Christian Education. It has been such a blessing to me and to my studies! I love it. I know it sounds really silly to be excited about a dictionary, but I am! The definitions often tell you what the word means in Scripture which is very helpful for those words that just aren’t in use as often nowadays. It is even more useful with words that are in use but have since been twisted into meaning something so far from the original meaning. The enemy has even attacked our vocabulary. What a sad thing that is. Fortunately, God continues to keep our eyes open to things like that when our hearts are seeking His Truth.
Now, for my brief word study on remember. When I finally decided to start looking into it, remember wasn’t really one of those words that had been changed much or that I didn’t already understand the meaning of. Because the Lord put it on my heart, I read through the definitions a few times and wrote down the only thing that jumped out at me – attend to. I set my notebook aside and went on to other things.
Later in the morning, Psalm 27:14 popped up as my verse of the day. It says,
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Confession time, my friends! I often get discouraged by this verse when I see it. It is one many of us have heard. I have often read it when I’m in the middle of some sort of struggle. And when that happens, it discourages me. I know, I should focus on the “he shall strengthen my heart” portion but inevitably, I get stuck on WAIT. Since my 1828 was still sitting out from my study on remember earlier in the morning, I looked up wait. Guess what was in the definition that jumped out at me? It was attend to! How cool is that? The first time God told me to look at the word remember was almost a month before I actually did it. Then, when I finally decide to do it, I’m in the middle of something, come across a verse that I have allowed to discourage me, and what does He do? He gave me this! Oh, how He cares about the tiniest things for us. He sees our hearts. He sees my heart.
Of course, the next thing to do is turn the pages in my trusty dictionary and look at attend. Here it is, folks; drumroll….to wait on, to accompany or be present in service or in worship, to serve. Now, THAT I can do! THAT encourages me! I’m not supposed to sit around and wait in the sense that I do nothing and have no idea when this is going to happen or how I will have my heart strengthened. He’s given me an instruction, an activity, an assignment.
In the middle of whatever it is that you are struggling with, fighting your way through or facing right now, remember this; you are probably already well into your assignment. If you’re being attacked, chances are that you are a servant of the most high God. You are probably already attending to Jesus, whether by taking care of your family the way He calls you to or working in your church, or maybe you’re giving of your time or resources in a way that glorifies Him. Whatever it is that you are doing, be encouraged by the meaning of Psalm 27:14.
Wait on (Be in service or in worship to) the LORD; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait (accompany or be present with), I say, on the LORD.
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