UNTIL ~ THEN

Pour yourself a cup of coffee, grab a pen and paper and take a seat.  Now, I’d like you to write on your piece of paper, UNTIL and THEN.  You will find out why in a moment.  I’d like to break down this incredibly powerful Psalm for you.

When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me–until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood… Psalm 73:16 NKJV

“When I thought…”

This is an “I” statement.  I want this, I think this, I am going do this… it’s me, me, me.  It’s our favorite word in the English language.  Seriously!  Think about how many time you use the word “I” or “me” daily.   When I do this, I realize how incredibly (shamefully) selfish I am.  When it’s all about me, it is truly a very dangerous place to be.  God wants to break us of that.  Let me try that again… God NEEDS to break us of that.

“When I thought how to understand this…”

I’m reminded of Provers 3:5.  “Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”  This is a exhortation to not depend on what we understand.  In our human minds, and on our own, we don’t have the understanding we need to comprehend and deal with the things in our lives.  Especially those things that bring us pain.

“When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me.”

Too painful.  Yes, I can relate.  It’s too painful to think about certain circumstances and attempt to comprehend them.  We all have them.  Maybe it is a sinful past.  Maybe it’s being a victim of someone else’s sin.  Maybe it’s enduring through an extremely difficult trial.  Maybe it’s watching your child make harmful decisions.  Maybe it’s addiction.  Maybe it’s an abortion.  Maybe it’s wanting to leave your marriage.  Maybe it’s the death of a loved one.  Maybe it’s a life full of trial, after trial, after trial.  It could be ANYTHING, but the commonality is the pain.  We sometimes struggle to process things that have happened in the past, or that are going on in our lives right now.  We sometimes try to ignore it, or figure out ways we can deal with it, all of which rarely seem to work.

“Until…”

This is the turning point in the Psalmist’s trial.  UNTIL.  It was painful when I tried to understand this, on my own, until…  It is the very turning point for us too.

“Until I went into the Sanctuary of God…”

In God’s presence, we find understanding.  But it is not UNTIL we come to Him, that we will find that rest for our hearts and our minds.  Oh, we can try.  But our attempt won’t work.  Going “into the sanctuary” or “presence” of God is not physically coming into a church building, or a physical state of our bodies.  It’s the state of our heart.  When we come to Him in meekness, humbled before our God and Savior, it’s a heart change.  It happens in an instant.  God, I choose to look to you.  I choose to run to you.  I choose to obey you.  I choose to honor you.  I choose to let your Holy Spirit do the work in my life that I cannot do for myself.  It’s admitting that we lack everything and allowing Him to give us everything we lack.  Oh how He longs to!

“Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood…”

UNTIL and THEN.  Don’t miss those two key words.  You won’t experience the “then” unless you first do the “until.”  In other words, you won’t experience the understanding, until you you seek the Lord.

Our minds can take over and we can so easily be deceived by our own thoughts.  When we react based on our lack of understanding, it can sooo easily cause destruction in our lives and the lives around us.  The enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy, but we can have victory through Jesus!  Jesus is the truth that sets us free.  Think of it as the prison of your own mind and heart.  Don’t stay bound by your lack of understanding.  Trust in the Lord, dear friend.  Enter into his presence and receive what you lack, from Him.  Realize it is ONLY HIM that can heal, that can change, that can bind up, that can mend and that can give us understanding.  His promises are for you!

 

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