Week 5: The Wise
We have made it to the conclusion of The Space Between Series!
What a blessing it has been to learn together through this psalm and press into the promises of God’s unfailing love. Today, as we finish with the final verses of Psalm 107, we will read the story of those the Psalmist calls wise! For through their wandering, waiting, wounding, and worry, they rediscovered the consistent character of the Lord and were reminded to share the story of His steadfast love.
If this season has taught me anything, it is that whatever the space between holds for me, God will use it for my growth and His glory.
Recently, I was given a podcast to listen to by Peter Scazzero, author of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (podcast link here). In his teaching on Isaiah 43, one of my favorite passages of scripture, Scazzero outlines the three-fold process within our of the spiritual journey with the Lord.
Orientation
Disorientation
Reorientation
Within orientation, we experience a sense of safety, security, and routine. In this place of consistency, we are at peace with the world and God. As clouds of disorientation cover our sunny skies, our path is quickly lost, pain is present in various forms, and our closeness to God feels shattered. It is here, within the space between, we question the God’s presence and struggle to surrender the sense of control, we assumed to be His blessing.
It is through the pressure of pain and loss, lack of clarity and confusion, that God lovely breaks us of our self-sufficiency. Disorientation, unlike anything else, is what matures us; it breaks us, strengthens us, and it ultimately changes us. In the darkest of days, we are freed from the bonds of comfort and control and forced to fight for faith, trusting in God’s sovereignty and ultimate sufficiency. Thankfully, because of Christ, disorientation has a final destination, one of reoriented hope.
Remember Jeremiah's song of lament. In utter despair and dislocation, something changes as Jeremiah reorients his perspective to God's presence saying,
"yet this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;" Lamentations 3:21-23
For in the refining fire of our greatest struggles, we learn the truth of God’s good character. Reoriented to the sovereignty of God’s dealings with us, faith is no longer based on answered prayers or bright skies but anchored on the power of God’s constant presence. Here, we return to a newfound joy and confidence in our Savior.
Have you experienced these same patterns within your spiritual journey?
Just know, wherever you find yourself today, you can be sure that what is present will not last and what is coming will be for your good.
As I have walked through this repeated process, I have found it is the space between, that redirects me, reorientates me, and refocuses my heart and hope on the goodness and grace of God.
The Promise of His Presence
Let's look at Isaiah 43:1-4
“But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life…”
What do we learn about God in these verses?
He is our creator, our redeemer, our father, and present help in times of trouble. Despite how much we may try to avoid the discomfort of what disorientates us, we are told that this world will have trouble and peace can be found in the promise of God’s presence. Through high waters and flaming fires, He is walking with us because of his love for us.
What hope I have found in this truth!
He is the one who redirects my steps
because he knows what is truly best.
He fights for me, even when I don’t see
And asks me to simply trust him and believe.
For with Him, there is no earthly plan that can withstand
and no sea deep enough to keep me from reaching the promised land.
Posture of Praise
In the final verses of Psalm 107, the psalmist turns his attention to the remembrance of God’s character, the reason for our praise saying,
He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
And there he lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish a city to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful yield.
By his blessing, they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their livestock diminish.
When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
but he raises up the needy out of affliction
and makes their families like flocks.
The upright see it and are glad,
and all wickedness shuts its mouth.
Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
Is this not a beautiful example of the soul’s reorientation towards God’s character. The psalmist shares of the fulfilled promises of God’s justice and kindness towards his children in the very moments of their suffering and insufficiency.
Friend, if there is one thing I pray we to take away from this entire study, it is that God is a present and faithful Father, who fights for us. He is working, right now, in the exact space, He has sovereignly placed us!
Let’s quickly go back to Isaiah 43, and be reminded of God’s word to the Israelites in the disorientation of their exile.
“Remember not the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
Now it springs up, don’t you perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert…
For I will give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people
whom I formed for myself that they may declare my praise.”
Oh, how much time we waste wishing for the former things and forgetting what great faithfulness we have found in God’s goodness towards us.
Is God doing a new thing in you life? May you courageously claim the victory that is sure to follow this unforeseen space!
More than anything, I desire to embrace the new work being done in my heart, the deepening of my soul's strength, and the softening of my heart’s healing.
Through Psalm 107, I am learning to live in a posture of praise for all the mighty ways God is working in the disoriented places of my life. I truly believe it is the space between that beckons us to taste and see that the Lord is, indeed, our greatest good!
This life, with its passing pleasures and prolonged pains, pales in comparison to what awaits us in eternity (Romans 8). It is this heavenly inheritance, as children of God, we can rejoice, though grieved by various trials, knowing that the disorientation of our souls is a sacred place for God’s power to be revealed (I Peter 1:1-9).
For this is the message of the Gospel! May it daily reorient our souls to sing of God’s steadfast love.
Be Wise
The Psalmist concludes this powerful song of rememberance by naming the wise saying,
“Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.”
Even though you may find yourself wandering, waiting, wounded, or worried, my friend, you can share the story of the wise! For wisdom is found at the feet of our Father and even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we do not have to fear, knowing that it is the Lord who walks with us and goes before us (Psalm 23).
Let us be wise and consider the stories of God's goodness the Psalmist sang…
He satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul He fills with good things (v9).
He shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two bars of iron (v16).
He sends out his word and heals, and delivers the lost from their destruction (v20).
He makes the storm be still and brings the soul to its desired haven (v29-30).
He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water (v35).
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!...
I pray that you have been encouraged to see your story through this psalm and rediscover God's goodness and grace in new and powerful ways. May we proclaim the promise and presence of God's steadfast love in our lives every day .
In the space between my dreams and where I am presently,
God is ever so carefully
molding my identity,
directing my destiny,
And revealing His utter sovereignty.
In all that He has prepared for me.
For I am coming to see, it is this space between that is truly saving me