"Waiting on the LORD"

 "Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart." (Ecclesiastes 7:7 KJV)

 "The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear. Terror seizes the godless. "Who can live with this devouring fire?" they cry. "Who can survive this all-consuming fire?" Those who are honest and fair, who refuse to profit by fraud, who stay far away from bribes, who refuse to listen to those who plot murder, who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong - these are the ones who will dwell on high. The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress. Food will be supplied to them, and they will have water in abundance." (PSALM 33:14-16 NLT)

 This might be hard to understand, but it takes years of living it out, before you can know what it actually feels like. The word for "oppression" is really not that difficult to see how it applies; it actually has two sides, the one being that which caused injury or anguish, and the other that which grows into unjust gain.

 Now, it really doesn't take rocket science to discover what unjust gain actually means, because it can involve all sorts of different things, both physical, financial, spiritual, or even supernatural. However, when you start talking about experience of life itself, meaning living out something that is life changing, things can really get very complicated, yet amazingly simple.

 This is really hard for me to share, but it will hopefully be better tomorrow! That said, whenever we have anything happening in our lives, there is always ways for the LORD to make beauty from ashes; the heart that is destroyed, doesn't necessarily need to be a bad thing...

"As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheda. But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice. Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. "Look," they told him, "you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have." Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the LORD for guidance. "Do everything they said to you," the LORD replied, "for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don't want me to be their king any longer. Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them."" (1 Samuel 8:1-9 NLT)