Running Strong on All Four Cylinders

Rest in the Lord,
and wait patiently for Him.
Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way . . .
Ps 37.7  KJV

Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper. . .
Ps 37.7 NLT

Two translations, the same directive:

Hang tight.    Don’t fret.
Calm down.  Don’t worry.

I’m experiencing that tension first-hand these days:  Waiting on the Lord – without fretting while I wait.
It’s easier said than done!

At lunch today I took a little walk.  I had to get away from the computer screen and the relentless pressure in the workplace to just be quiet with God and let Him remind me He’s not abdicated a thing to circumstance lately.  It was reassuring to remember that in truth He never has.

For a while I thought of these current stresses  (prepping a house to sell, trying to sell in this economy, working a full-time/temp job, dreading the good-byes that will have to be said, packing, prepping to move, thinking ahead to the ministry I can’t WAIT to begin, wondering how God is going to work all this out)  as  though Responsibility and Trust were Teeter-tottering on the playground.    The sense of Responsibility outweighs trust for a while, but when it reaches the groud it realizes… “No… shouldn’t be this way” and pushes off to Trust.   Just about the time Trust gains the advantage, Responsibility leans back on the teeter-totter and outweighs it for a moment, and turns the momentum.     The really isn’t how I want life to be through these next few weeks.  “Must find a new allegory….”

I think I have one.  In a smooth-running engine the cylinders are all in motion:

Intake
Ignition
Power
Exhaust

The reciprocation is an expected part of a smooth-running engine.   So I chose names for the four cylinders under my hood these days.  When I feel the pressure, I can usually identify which of the four is about to deliver its power-stroke to the situation at hand.

It’s encouraging to pray “Your Faith, Lord,”  and feel it fire.

Or to whisper  “Your Determination, Lord” as I lean into the task at hand.

I smile to myself when I imagine Optimism ask me “You still believe, don’t you?”  (of course, yes)  “Then keep your foot off the brake.”

Or to remind myself  “Do it well, Phil – for Him”  (2 Cor 10:31)  and feel resolve inhale.

.

Rivers have white-water rapids sometimes.

Roads have switchbacks and interesting sections.

Life… has transitions.

I need to drive carefully and keep my spiritual engine in tip-top condition.