Be still

Today the Bible reading was from Daniel and his request that the exile not be extended.  God gave Daniel a vision of a longer exile than He had originally said. ..because His people had not repented of their ways. This disturbed Daniel and he prayed and asked God about it. God explained that it was because of their hardened hearts and their desire to do what pleased them instead of what pleased God which is really for their own best interests. 

I have been hearing much about waiting, being still and listening to God lately. (Hmmmm, do you think He is trying to tell me something?) God wants what is best for us, but we don't know what that is. We THINK we do, but God has a bigger plan that we cannot see. So, if we just wait on Him, greater things will happen than anything we could have imagined, because what we will have will be what our heavenly Father who loves us wants for us!

Here is what happens when we don't wait on God...when we do what we think is best or what WE want without praying for divine guidance:

I Kings
8This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 9PEOPLE WILL ANSWER, ‘BECAUSE THEY HAVE FORSAKEN THE LORD THEIR GOD, WHO BROUGHT THEIR ANCESTORS OUT OF EGYPT, AND HAVE EMBRACED OTHER GODS, WORSHIPING AND SERVING THEM—THAT IS WHY THE Lord brought all this disaster on them.’ ” 

Just for the record, other gods could be money, power, praise, greed, or anything that we focus on instead of God. God will try to get us back on the right path, but we still have to choose to focus on Him, wait on Him, rather than worldly things. 

Father, we wait on you. Show us the your perfect way! Amen.