Last Wednesday (August 7th), I was in the early stages of making a big decision about something, and I knew I needed a Bible verse to hang onto in my mind. Do you know what I mean? It needed to be one of those verses that, when the evil ick tries to tell you that you missed out on something “better” because of your choice, you can recite and then remember that God’s way is perfect!

No, I don’t think God speaks to me in His own audible voice. But I do fully believe that He opens my eyes and my heart to hear His words (as they appear recorded for all time in the Bible) in the “tone of voice” that He is using to “speak” them to me at that moment. I believe it’s the reason I can read a chapter twenty-seven times, and yet, on the twenty-eighth time I can see something brand new in the exact same words.

So, I, of course, was reading my regular daily passage and expecting an amazing verse to touch my heart with the words “do this _________ and this ___________ will happen.” Instead, while using my New American Standard Version and reading the very familiar Psalm 37, I mentally did a Dick-Van Dyke-style-ottoman-trip over these words in verse three:

Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. —Psalm 37:3, NASB

The word that appears as “cultivate” in this version is found in other versions as “enjoy safe pasture” (NIV), “befriend faithfulness” (ESV), “verily thou shalt be fed” (KJV), and “feed on His faithfulness” (NKJV). When I put those all together, I was struck to the core with the fact that the “answer” for which I was seeking was right in front of me—much clearer than I had even hoped it would be!

You see, it hit me, after reading this verse, that where I go, what I do, and how I do what I do are minor considerations compared to His command to cultivate faithfulness in my own life as I feed on His faithfulness. I can know that in His unfailing faithfulness, He will feed me from His full table of knowledge and wisdom, and that gives me an amazing, personal one-on-one relationship with Him that allows me to enjoy a safe pasture and dwell there—just peacefully, calmly dwell there—knowing that He’s got this!

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