Deuteronomy 28:9
“The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.”
These are some of the most wonderful four words, “The Lord will establish you”. Due to sin, we are all broken, damaged and left wanting on many levels. Unfortunately we don’t make the connection that God can help us. We pursue wholeness through things, accomplishments and relationships. It takes some of us a life time to learn this. The fortunate ones find out young.
What does it look like to be established? Psalm 1:3 describes it as follows, “He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.” Jesus describes it this way in Mark 4:20, “Yet others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop — thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.” Jesus says in John 4:14 that there is in him “a fount of water springing up to eternal life.” Other places in scripture speak of the peace, contentment and joy God will give us.
How does God establish us? He uses the circumstances of life to mold us. They often produce distress within. We cry out to God for help. We put our trust in Him and He resolves it. I’ve heard it said that “the same sun that melts butter, hardens clay”. These trials can make us better or bitter. God wants to work through our problems to make us better.
The difficulty in situations is that they aren’t turning out as we would have hoped. We struggle and strain for the desired outcome. We have to yield our expectations and timing to The Lord. It’s then we gain peace. That’s the recipe for growth. If we commit our ways to Him and trust Him for the outcome and timing, we will be at rest.
A very important ingredient in being established was referenced in the Mark passage. The seed that was sown was the Word of God, the Bible. That’s how God speaks to us. It might not seem impactful at the initial reading (or hearing), but He will bring it up, along with it’s application. The more we are in God’s Word, the more we are open to Him and the more opportunities for Growth. It’s also planting more seed. This means that there will be a greater harvest.
Lord, thanks for Your desire to “establish us”. Help us to be in Your Word and to yield to You through it all.