REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, first posted on February 21, 2016, is provided by Pastor Shan Gian who leads Remnant Westside Church in Manhattan. Shan is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania (BA) and Gordon Conwell Seminary (M.Div.).
Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend
“Amazon Prime and King David”
Psalm 131:1-3
A Song of Ascents. Of David. O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3 O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.
Amazon Prime has been among the greatest technological advances of the 21st century. It’s amazing to be able to go online, look for something you want, buy it—and it shows up at your door in two days. We don’t even need to leave our houses. But have you ever bought something on Amazon Prime, and it didn’t get to you in time? It’s happened to me before. I bought a shiny new book, and instead of the expected two days, it took a FULL THREE DAYS to get to me. Oh, the outrage that I felt at this injustice!
We live in such a fast-paced, I-want-it-and-I-want-it-NOW kind of culture that we hate it when we’re made to wait for anything. Whether it’s waiting for a package to be delivered, waiting in line at the grocery store, or waiting for the traffic light to turn green—we don’t like waiting and the uncertainty it brings us. It’s not even just the small, mundane things that make us feel impatient. No one likes the uncertainty that life brings: waiting to find out where we’ll go to college, who we’ll marry, where we should live, what job we should take next, etc.
If David in Psalm 131 were to meet most of us, he would say that we are like “unweaned” children. To wean a child means to gradually move him or her off the breast milk or off the bottle onto solid food. The picture that David gives, though, is more than about food. The weaned child is calm and quiet because he knows that his next meal is coming to him. He’s content because he trusts in his mother or father to take care of him. On the other hand, unweaned children are fussy and demanding; they kick and scream and cry, because they’re hungry and they want food now.
As David has learned to be like a weaned child, he encourages us to do the same. He is able to be patient and say, “I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me,” because he trusts in his Heavenly Father to take care of him. We might not understand why or how or what is going on. We might not even know what life brings in the near or distant future. But we can be like a weaned child and be at peace as we trust in our loving Father. As we worship on this Lord’s day, let us strive for this heart of patience and contentment, trusting that our Father will take care of us.
Prayer: Father, I pray that I will truly worship You and trust You this day. I know I will not know or understand all that’s going on or all that is to come, but I pray that I will be content to know that you love me and will take care of me all of my days. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Acts 17