I have received hundreds of e-mails from people lately who believe God has given up on them for one reason or another. Of course nothing could be further from the truth. God loves us with a love that is so deep that according to the Bible it is incomprehensible, meaning mere words cannot adequately describe it. While we might give up on Him, we can be dead certain that He will never give up on us. Understanding this concept is critical to obtaining the fullness of life and tapping into the unbelievable power of God. (Ephesians 3:19: “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from Godâ€.)
Okay assuming we believe the Bible to be the unerring word of God we must accept through faith that our Father who loves us will provide for our needs. Jesus often talked of worry being a sin. Worry demonstrates our lack of faith in Him. God wants us to have unconditional faith.
One lady wrote and detailed that she had some financial problems and was afraid that in the near future she might lose her savings, but she also went on to state that her family loved her and her kids were doing great. I gently admonished her that it sounded to me like in spite of her tribulations she had some of the best things going for her that this life could ever offer. I asked her to put her faith in God and quit worrying about the tomorrow that may never come and focus on today for it is sufficient for its own trouble.
After thinking about my comments she responded: “I have so much to be thankful for and all that I am lacking is unconditional faith. I have always claimed to have it but the truth is, it is easy to have faith when things are going your way. The true test is when they aren’tâ€.
She spoke for many of us with that statement I tell you… Gold is refined through a purification process whereby impurities are burned away. It reminds me of faith. The Bible tells us that trials and tribulations, (our burning purification process) build our perseverance and patience and those are key ingredients of faith, (the gold we should be seeking).
Psalms 37:7 says: “Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to actâ€. I often muse about the Lord’s creation of mankind and envision what must have been running through God’s awesome unimaginable intellect as He designed our bodies.
Do you suppose He decided to give us two eyes and two ears and just one mouth as a means of not so subtly telling us that we should look and listen four times more than we should talk? (I have one buddy that has all of that backwards. He incessantly rattles and prattles and I sometimes wonder if he has fifty mouths and no ears.)
We cannot “be still†if we are jabbering away like monkeys running through the trees. The Hebrew for the above verse is to be silent or mute. It has a connotation of waiting in silent patience and leaving our matters entirely with God without being anxious as to the result.
Some doubt God because He does not respond on their schedule, but they fail to understand that He is not our servant we are His. We were created by God for God not vice versa. He has the advantage of being able to see into the future and knows the outcome and we don’t. I once suffered financially and otherwise for seven long years after a group of employees embezzled huge sums of money from my company. During this time I was absolutely miserable and it was extremely difficult for me to understand how any good could come out of my situation. As it turns out that period of time taught me more about budgeting and running a business to secure a profit than all of my previous experiences combined. Today I feel that while painful at the time, these were undoubtedly some of the best lessons I ever learned. Additionally I became closer to my family than ever before and developed an appreciation for the best things in life.
Most importantly I learned not to put my trust in material things and to put my faith in God and what I can accomplish on His behalf and to physically live each day with my mantra being “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens meâ€, including weathering the fierce storms of life.
Don’t you know that when we exit this world and face Jesus we will be penniless and our entire possessions will be the good works that we accomplished while living this life (that has been compared to a “vaporâ€)? Look at your Rolex while you have the opportunity, because you will not be taking it with you. Selah…
Keep the faith in your Creator. He loves you. Don’t waste time worrying; spend that time working towards a resolution to your problems and maintain faith. Pray and study the word of God and have fellowship with other Christians. God does not give up on people and if nothing else look to my life, I’m a prime example.
Luke 12:22
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one foot to his height? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.