““But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord. “You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God— there never has been, and there never will be. I, yes I, am the Lord, and there is no other Savior.””
Isaiah 43:10-11 NLT
Anybody with any level of understanding would certainly recognize the insanity of trying to make ourselves equal with God. His knowledge is so incalculably beyond human understanding, that any attempt at a one-to-one comparison, makes comparing the grandeur of a crib mobile, to that of our actual solar system, seem reasonable.
Paul rightly attests to the nonsensical nature of even trying to make that comparison:
“But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”
1 Corinthians 1:24-25 NLT
Indeed, God’s great power renders us unworthy of even being called “foolish” in comparison to Him.
Yet, we may be inadvertently doing the very thing we would label as absurd, if spoken as plainly as I have above. You see, we are often guilty of second-guessing God and/or trying to do the work that only He can/will do.
Think of it: We try to interject ourselves into conflicts to bring peace where people really don’t want peace, or, where the lack of peace is symptomatic of an unaddressed spiritual problem.
We may try to make things right for someone who has rejected the Lord God Himself and their difficulty is their only hope of being arrested in their slide toward destruction.
We may even try to provide answers concerning a situation about which we really have no clue. Face it, we don’t even know what we don’t know.
The conclusion of the matter is: God alone is God. We must repent before Him for—in any way—“usurping” His authority. And make no mistake, having well-meaning motives does not excuse our interjecting where we ought not. At best, it’s a waste of time, and may actually be harmful. At worst, it is offensive to the Lord.
Certainly, we should want to make peace; we should want to help make things right. But, we definitely need to seek the Lord as to where the line is between our responsibility and those things that belong only to God. I truly believe we will have more personal peace if we do so; and I know this will be pleasing to He Who IS God alone.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,”
Psalm 8:3-6 ESV
You’ve probably heard the reference about some people being “glass half empty,” versus other people being “glass half full” people. Indeed, it is easy to become complaint-focused, as those things not going as we would like in our lives, seem to shout out over the quiet voice of our blessings. Child of God, it ought not be so.
One particularly egregious way the disgruntled persuasion manifests in us, is in the focusing on what the Christian walk “costs,” as opposed to the blessings found therein.
“Oh,” some people say, “why must I give this or that up?” “What great sacrifices I am making to be separate from the world system.” Etc. This tunnel vision on what we can’t do/have because of our identification with Christ, reveals a total ignorance of the plan of God for us.
If we look at our lives without viewing them through the context of God‘s plan for man, we may miss the whole point of our being and make our own comfort our goal.
Far from the notion that “God just wants me to be happy,” is the real truth: God wants us to be holy and be who He made us to be, a goal only realized through a true relationship with Him.
God has made every effort to lead us back to Himself. He took on flesh and became the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He showed us that He is our Father and made a way for us to live in His house forever! Not only that, He made a way for us to rule and reign with Him.
It’s no wonder that our opening scripture finds David speaking as one enraptured by the goodness of God towards us!
Think of it: The Creator of our glorious creation, has also created us in His very image. He has wonderful plans for us that He refused to allow even our sin to interrupt!
Let’s repent for allowing our hardships to cause us to be oblivious to God’s glorious, majestic plan for us. As well, let’s make every effort to live our lives within the context of that knowledge.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
Let’s face it, daily life has great potential for stress; it’s the nature of the beast. However, if we remember that our Heavenly Father knows our needs, cares about our needs, and can definitely control what we cannot control, then we can face our challenges knowing that we are not alone in them. In fact, the Creator of all things is enabling us to do what we must, as well as doing for us what we can’t do.
To access His daily strength, we must take the advice offered in our opening scripture. We must be proactive in terms of our prayer life. We must take our concerns to the Lord in an attitude of thankfulness and allow Him to calm the troubled waters of our soul.
Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians. Whereas as much of the population was relocated, there were those left in the rubble of the formerly great Jerusalem. Out of that suffering came the songs of lament we find in the book of Lamentations, generally credited to the prophet, Jeremiah.
When thinking of the devastation of his current situation, Jeremiah found hope by remembering the faithfulness of God. Not only that, each new day offers a chance for a do over!
“Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:21-26 NLT
Child of God, let’s ask the Lord to forgive us for stressing out; and let’s replace that stressing out, with pouring out before the Lord. After all, He hasn’t stopped making a way where there is no way; and, HE NEVER WILL!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!