Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 2: God is Personal God!”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Do you believe God will always give you what is good?
It’s hard to fully trust that, isn’t it?
Is cancer good?
Is CoVid good?
Is losing a job good?
Is losing a loved one good?
It’s hard right? Especially when we fall for the lie that Satan plants within us that “God doesn’t care about me when I don’t get what I want or God doesn’t do what I want him to do.”
On the surface, none of these appears to be good, nor is it something I would WANT for myself.
So, will I trust that God will always give my what is GOOD, even if it not what I WANT?
To trust this, I have to rely on God’s promises and his eternal track record. Only then can I call something “good” when it appears so bad.
First, a promise from Psalm 23:1,6
“The Lord is my shepherd…Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.”
A shepherd, true shepherd, will always want what is best for his sheep. He will lay down his life for his sheep. He will go after the lost sheep that wandered from the flock. He will ensure his sheep are safely in the pen to protect them from harmful predators. He will call each of them by name. Why? Because he has a relationship with each one. Each one has a place in the shepherd’s heart. So the Good Shepherd, Jesus promises, “goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life.” I will let go of my definition of good, and know that God’s definition and exhibition of good is always from his heart of love for me personally, and therefore good.
Second, a promise from Psalm 139:7-8
Where can I go from your Spirit?…If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths you are there.
There is nowhere on this planet where God’s Spirit will not be. Sometimes it is hard to accept what is happening in life because we feel that God has abandoned us. Just when life gets difficult, our perception is that we have to face it all alone. We perhaps even cry out, “God where are you?” In those moments God whispers, “I am here with you.” When we know our loving heavenly Father is with us, we can always be confident he is there to do what is best for us.
Third, a promise from Psalm 139:13
You created my inmost being…you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Have you ever spent weeks putting a puzzle together? Spent weeks assembling computer code to write a working program? Or orchestrated the design and construction of a project. When we spend time putting something together, we know it so well as we are aware of every component that makes it up. In order for the mechanism to keep going we must have a deep concern for every part of the whole process.
God knit each of our cells together in our mothers’ womb. Would he not care for each part that makes you, you? Of course he would! He cares for the healthy cells as well as the unhealthy. He wants you to succeed at the purpose for which he created you…give glory to God.
The list can go on, but here are three short reminders to teach us that in life God will always give us what is GOOD, not always what I want.
Apply: Journal on an event that you didn’t think was good. How DID God turn it for your good?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for always giving me what is good, even when it’s not always what I want!