Thursday, January 28, 2016

Faith in God's Idea of Good or Mine?


"Some people hold tenaciously to a faith that their child will not die, that their cancer will disappear, that their spouse will recover from a stroke. Do they have faith in God, or is their faith in what they desperately want God to do?" --Randy Alcorn, Ninety Days of God's Goodness
I desperately want my loved one to be healed and freed from his addiction and self-loathing. I desperately want him to realize his worth to God. But that cannot be where my faith stays. I want to have a deeper faith--one that can believe God has a plan, whether it looks like what I envisioned or not. And I trust Him that it is good.

The problem is, my idea of good and God's idea of good can be very different. I vote for God's because mine is very shallow and self-absorbed.

So Lord, I trust you--with my children, my husband, and my own life. I trust you--with my country--our future and our next president. I trust you--with our church and our denomination. I will be still and know that You are God.

Friday, January 8, 2016

More than Enough



Lord, You offer me so much--You offer me everything! The richest of fare! And I snub my nose and turn away.

I turn away from endless abundance because I done believe it's good enough. It's not what I think I want. I'd rather gratify my flesh right now than look to You and be grateful for all You offer:
All of heaven
Your very presence
Water for my parched soul
Fullness of joy
Pleasures forever
Complete satisfaction
Peace that passes all understanding
The riches of Your love

You show up in a pillar of cloud and of fire. You provide manna from heaven. And I snub my nose and turn away.

I run instead to things that will never satisfy. No matter how much I eat, I'll always want more. No matter how much weight I gain, I will never have enough. At my complaint, you send me meat--'til it's coming out my ears, you grant my requests. But I am still not satisfied. I continue to complain... Snub my nose and turn away.

I don't want to live this way. I want the riches of your love to always be enough. I want to find complete peace and satisfaction in You. You are enough, Lord... More than enough.