Tuesday, July 20, 2010

He Is Not a Withholder


For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You! Psalm 84:11,12 (New King James Version)


A statement that Beth Moore once said is continually being brought home to me. She said the area that continues to trouble us and cause us distress is the very place we are distrusting God. I find there may be many areas I readily trust God in with abandon. No question mark lines the halls of those corridors. It is exclamation points galore! Yet I am in agreement with what she said regarding the areas of turmoil. When it is all said and done the bottom line really does come down to trust in God’s ability to take me through storms, trials, and difficulties, and to bring me out on the other side having experienced today’s passage.

I looked at today’s verses and God pinpointed the very phrase that was meant for my eyes and heart. NO GOOD THING WILL HE WITHHOLD. There are many things I may want but whether I receive them or not, His word remains. Whether I experience a loss, rejection, or sorrow in no way is He withholding a good thing from me. He remains my sun and shield. He faithfully gives grace and glory. He is the author and finisher of my faith and although I may not always understand what He is doing I can stand in confidence that it is being done out of love with right motives and extraordinary purpose.

Any trial I may face only comes upon me when God knows that He has fully prepared me for it. I loved something else Beth Moore said along these lines. “The very area where you are most tempted to distrust God is the very place He has most chosen to trust you. Maybe all along He was saying, I knew you could. I know what’s in you. Because I am in you and I am your all surpassing power in a jar of clay. Watch me show off from the inside out.”

As I step into a new day it will be better for me to take my eyes off the people who might disappointment me and the circumstances that hurt me at the core, and look to see where God Himself is working in the deepest parts of me. He has many tools He uses to mold and shape me. He does not allow me to pick and choose which tools He will use. If He did that, I would never select the ones that would be the most beneficial. The trust comes in to play as I once again see Him as the potter and myself as the clay. He knows what He is doing and why He is doing it. I yield.

Father, be the One to consume me. Let my attention, passion, and heart be centered on You. Amen.

Be Still and Know That He is God - Steven Curtis Chapman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C01lLxEo3xM&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.