Have you ever dealt with (or avoided dealing with!) an issue that just weighed you down, and nagged at you and was an underlying anxiety in every aspect of your life? I'm sure we all have, and today one of those issues for us was resolved in a way that I still can't quite wrap my head around! I won't share the particular details because they are not what is important, and they may serve to distract from my point.
For about a year there has been an issue in our lives (not a marital/family relationship issues) that has really caused us some strife in our relationship with God. We have been kind of hard-headed--I have been so in particular. It's one of those issues where we tell ourselves -- and God, "I can deal with this on my own." After you have repeated that sentiment enough times, you even start believing it.
But when we edge God out, when we don't even allow His guidance, we certainly cannot deal with it, at least not very well and not for very long! It continues to nag at us and crops up unexpectedly at the most inopportune times!
This morning things came to head and I found myself on my knees. I actually began to cry because I knew I was going to have to give up the last little bit of my pride in this situation and allow God to fix it, if it was to ever be resolved. When I finished I still didn't feel as if the situation could be fixed.
Within 2 hours though a series of phone calls and events took place that simply could not have been orchestrated my the will of man. I still am kind of numb because even though I have said many times that I know God loves me, until today I don't think I really comprehended just how much He does indeed love me.
Because of my submission, God was able to work His way in our lives. He brought about what needed to happen--not to relieve us of responsibility or accountability, but to reassure us that He was indeed in control and that he could and would bring things to fruition according to His plan. Of course, His plan is always to prosper us - to bring goodness and peace into our lives.
We now see a way clear to resolve the situation and to move forward with a new type of reassurance. The reassurance is not within or through ourselves, though. It is a reassurance that surrender = peace. Letting go of pride = comfort. Relying upon God = abundant provision beyond imagining.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. [Isaiah 43:3-4a NIV]
I'm not given to making declarations like this. I'm not about sensationalism or drawing attention to myself when I relate how God works in our lives. But I'm making this declaration: God is intimately and intricately involved in every single aspect of our lives, both the mundane and the extraordinary. He knows every breath we take. He comprehends the depth and breadth of our stubbornness and petulance. He loves us anyway.
He sent Jesus to earth to atone for our innate sinfulness and to win us eternal life. God's grace surpasses and far exceeds anything that the human mind can comprehend or imagine.
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! [Isaiah 30:18]
Showing posts with label provision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label provision. Show all posts
Friday, December 5, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Is God Faithful?
That's a rather provacative question, I realize! It's one that many are probably asking in light of the current economic situation in our country and around the world. Perhaps you're not saying it out loud to anyone, but certainly you must wonder . . . Or perhaps you are in good financial shape and will be able to weather the next couple of years pretty handily, but you have health issues, or a loved one is dying, or your child is involved in risky behaviors--or you are.
Whatever is going on in the world -- or in your little part of it, this question looms large at some point for each of us. I know that God is, indeed faithful! Throughout the last two years, my husband and I have learned to live on about 1/2 of our previous salary. It has been a struggle at times, because while we were comfortable at our former income level, we didn't live at all extravagantly or one penny beyond our means. So, to now have half of what was not exhorbitant . . .
And yet each month, especially in the months we thought we might need to put an expense on a credit card or figure out some other way to pay an unexpected bill or expenditure, the money came, just in time. Really!! I'm not kidding! Some months it meant that I received free lance writing work with an "ASAP" deadline that was over and above the work I had planned to be paid for. Sometimes it meant we received a refund for a bill we had double-paid months ago without realizing it.
One month, my husband's car was due for inspection. He asked me before he left, what should I do if the bill is $500 or so? You guessed it: his car passed inspection without the need for the expensive repair he had anticipated. Our health insurance does not cover many common medications. One medication I take is expensive and is one that is not covered. My doctor asked me about the prescription on a recent visit and I mentioned that it cost a lot, but that I felt it was effective. She gave me a 10-week supply of samples from her office.
So it sounds as if I say God is faithful because He has made financial provision for us over the past two years. But how would I respond to that question had our home been foreclosed on or had one of us become too ill to work? I like to think I would still feel the same way. I would hope that I would see the blessings I received in every situation. Like Paul, I would hope to rejoice in want and in plenty, in good health and in illness.
Some may believe that all of my examples are merely coincidences. Some may not believe that God acts so personally and precisely in our lives. I happen to disagree! I don't believe He's been providing for us financially because we are so faithful! I believe He is so faithful so that we learn to rely upon Him! I don't know about you, but that reliance does not come naturally to me. I am by nature a fairly industrious, self-sufficient individual. I'm not used to relying upon others for what I need or want.
Those are good qualities, but not when they are exclusive of dependence upon God! I believe that God is so faithful, so often, because I need to constantly be reminded of the source of everything in my life--everything! Christ died on the Cross to afford me eternal life! There is no other provision I can imagine needing or wanting.
Our challenge is to remember the Cross and to rejoice that no matter what happens to us in this life, God has already made provision for us in heaven.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [1 John 1:9 RSV]
Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people. [Hebrews 2:17 RSV]
But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from evil. [2 Thessalonians 3:3]
Whatever is going on in the world -- or in your little part of it, this question looms large at some point for each of us. I know that God is, indeed faithful! Throughout the last two years, my husband and I have learned to live on about 1/2 of our previous salary. It has been a struggle at times, because while we were comfortable at our former income level, we didn't live at all extravagantly or one penny beyond our means. So, to now have half of what was not exhorbitant . . .
And yet each month, especially in the months we thought we might need to put an expense on a credit card or figure out some other way to pay an unexpected bill or expenditure, the money came, just in time. Really!! I'm not kidding! Some months it meant that I received free lance writing work with an "ASAP" deadline that was over and above the work I had planned to be paid for. Sometimes it meant we received a refund for a bill we had double-paid months ago without realizing it.
One month, my husband's car was due for inspection. He asked me before he left, what should I do if the bill is $500 or so? You guessed it: his car passed inspection without the need for the expensive repair he had anticipated. Our health insurance does not cover many common medications. One medication I take is expensive and is one that is not covered. My doctor asked me about the prescription on a recent visit and I mentioned that it cost a lot, but that I felt it was effective. She gave me a 10-week supply of samples from her office.
So it sounds as if I say God is faithful because He has made financial provision for us over the past two years. But how would I respond to that question had our home been foreclosed on or had one of us become too ill to work? I like to think I would still feel the same way. I would hope that I would see the blessings I received in every situation. Like Paul, I would hope to rejoice in want and in plenty, in good health and in illness.
Some may believe that all of my examples are merely coincidences. Some may not believe that God acts so personally and precisely in our lives. I happen to disagree! I don't believe He's been providing for us financially because we are so faithful! I believe He is so faithful so that we learn to rely upon Him! I don't know about you, but that reliance does not come naturally to me. I am by nature a fairly industrious, self-sufficient individual. I'm not used to relying upon others for what I need or want.
Those are good qualities, but not when they are exclusive of dependence upon God! I believe that God is so faithful, so often, because I need to constantly be reminded of the source of everything in my life--everything! Christ died on the Cross to afford me eternal life! There is no other provision I can imagine needing or wanting.
Our challenge is to remember the Cross and to rejoice that no matter what happens to us in this life, God has already made provision for us in heaven.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [1 John 1:9 RSV]
Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people. [Hebrews 2:17 RSV]
But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from evil. [2 Thessalonians 3:3]
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