從迷惘到信靠
你做了些甚麼？
經文
詩篇四十1-17
1（大衛的詩，交與伶長。）我曾耐性等候耶和華；他垂聽我的呼求。
2他從禍坑裡，從淤泥中，把我拉上來，使我的腳立在磐石上，使我腳步穩當。
3他使我口唱新歌，就是讚美我們神的話。許多人必看見而懼怕，並要倚靠耶和華。
4那倚靠耶和華、不理會狂傲和偏向虛假之輩的，這人便為有福！
5耶和華我的神啊，你所行的奇事，並你向我們所懷的意念甚多，不能向你陳明。若要陳明，其事不可勝數。
6祭物和禮物，你不喜悅；你已經開通我的耳朵。燔祭和贖罪祭非你所要。
7那時我說：看哪，我來了！我的事在經卷上已經記載了。
8我的神啊，我樂意照你的旨意行；你的律法在我心裡。
9我在大會中宣傳公義的佳音；我必不止住我的嘴唇。耶和華啊，這是你所知道的。
10我未曾把你的公義藏在心裡；我已陳明你的信實和你的救恩；我在大會中未曾隱瞞你的慈愛和誠實。
11耶和華啊，求你不要向我止住你的慈悲！願你的慈愛和誠實常常保佑我！
12因有無數的禍患圍困我，我的罪孽追上了我，使我不能昂首；這罪孽比我的頭髮還多，我就心寒膽戰。
14願那些尋找我、要滅我命的，一同抱愧蒙羞！願那些喜悅我受害的，退後受辱！
15願那些對我說阿哈、阿哈的，因羞愧而敗亡！
16願一切尋求你的，因你高興歡喜！願那些喜愛你救恩的，常說：當尊耶和華為大！
17但我是困苦窮乏的，主仍顧念我；你是幫助我的，搭救我的。神啊，求你不要耽延！
信息分享
今天讓我們繼續思考昨天的話題，我們必須採取的第二個步驟──將我們所有困難和感受帶到神那裡，直接與神傾談。著名的基督徒心理輔導員亞當斯（Jay Adams）博士說，每當有人找他輔導的時候，他都會先問對方三個初步的問題：（1）你的問題是甚麼？（2）對這問題你做了些甚麼？（3）你期望我對那問題做些甚麼？
他說一般人對第二個問題的回答，有令他感到驚訝的地方。對於這個問題「你做了些甚麼？」很多人回答說，他們會向朋友、家人、甚至書本尋求幫助，但是很少人會與神談論自己的問題。我自己的也有相同的經驗。在我事奉的早期，當有弟兄姊妹有個人問題來找我的時候，我問他們：「你與神談過這件事嗎？」他們的回答往往是：「沒有，我想先與你談一談」。實在令我費解。
我經常在想，如果大家都習慣先向神傾訴自己的問題，然後才與別人談論，是否會減低對基督徒心理輔導的需求呢？當然，我並非在否定輔導的事奉，因為根據聖經，輔導是神賜下的恩賜（羅十二8）。不過，我確信如果基督徒能夠養成先與神討論自己問題的這個習慣，他們就會驚訝地發現，在大部分的情況下，都不需要再徵詢其他人的意見了。
「養成先走向神的習慣」
進深研究
代上二十八9；詩二十七8；箴八17；耶二十九13
1. 「尋求耶和華」是甚麼意思？
2. 神應許甚麼？
祈禱
我的父、我的神啊，求您幫助我養成一種祈禱的習慣，當我面對困難時，懂得先與您傾訴。我奉您兒子那無比寶貴的聖名祈求。阿們。
From Confusion to Confidence
"What have you done about it?"
Bible reading:
Psalm 40:1-17
1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.
4 Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.[b]
5 Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—but my ears you have opened[c]— burnt offerings and sin offerings[d] you did not require.
7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll.[e]
8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart."
9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know.
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly.
11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me.
12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.
13 Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me.
14 May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
15 May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!" be appalled at their own shame.
16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, "The Lord is great!"
17 But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.
Message
We continue thinking about the second step we must take - bringing all our questions and feelings to God and talking directly to Him about them. Dr Jay Adams, a well-known Christian counsellor, says that whenever anyone comes to him for counselling, he begins by asking three preliminary questions: (1) What is your problem? (2) What have you done about it? (3) What do you expect me to do about it?
He says that one of the things that has amazed him about the replies he gets to the second question - "What have you done about it?" - is the fact that although many say they have sought help from friends, family or even books, few say that they have talked to God about their problem. My own experience would bear this out. In the early days of my ministry I remember being somewhat non- plussed when I asked a brother or sister who had come to me with a personal problem, "Have you talked to God about this?" to hear so often this response: "No, I thought I would talk to you about it first."
I have often wondered whether there would be such a demand for Christian counselling if people made it a habit to talk to God about their problems before talking them over with anyone else. That does not mean, of course, that the ministry of counselling is invalid for, according to Scripture, it is a God-ordained gift (Rom. 12:8). I am convinced, however, that if Christians developed the habit of first going to God with their problems, they would make the surprising discovery that on most occasions, they would have no need to consult anyone else. Day 69 "You shall have no other gods before me." (v.3)
Bible reading:
Exodus 20:1-17
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
We are saying that if we would learn to bring our doubts, our fears and our confusion to God and talk to Him about them in believing prayer, there would be fewer problems in the Church and less need for personal counselling.
This does not mean, as we said, that the ministry of counselling is invalid for, as Scripture clearly shows, it ought to play a vital part in every Christian congregation: "I am satisfied about you, my brethren, that you yourselves are rich in goodness, amply filled with all spiritual knowledge and competent to admonish and counsel and instruct one another also" (Rom. 15:14, Amplified Bible). There will be times when, even though we have spoken to God about our problems and our confusion, the guidance and enlightenment we need will come not directly from Him but through the lips of a minister, a friend or a counsellor.
The point I am making is that we must learn the spiritual principle of having a dialogue with God before we enter into a dialogue with anyone else. Why is this so important? Because our spiritual dependence must be rooted in God and not in anyone else. It is so easy to move away from a sense of dependence on God, and anything that contributes to that must be resisted. After all, what is the essence of sin? Is it not independence - man seeking to find his own solutions to his problems rather than discovering God's perspective on them? Of course, if God directs us to another member of His family for help and advice, then fine. The roots of our dependence, however, must be firmly fixed in Him.
"Develop the habit of first going to God"
Prayer
My Father and my God, help me to develop a prayer-habit so that whenever I am faced with a problem, the first One I think of talking to is You. I ask this in and through Your Son's peerless and precious Name. Amen.
Further study
1 Chronicles 28:9
Psalm 27:8
Proverbs 8:17
Jeremiah 29:13
1. What does it mean to "seek the Lord"?
2. What does God promise?
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