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“O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.” Isaiah 25:1
My family accuses me of being beige! My clothes are beige! My personality is beige! Even my language tends to be a little beige at times! I tried to tell them, I’m not beige I’m just consistent! I just move steadily along. But in reality, I’m not sure Christian should ever be beige when it comes to the things of God. Isaiah says I will praise you God God. His praises based on the wonderful things that God has done for him. His praises based on the fact that God does exactly what he says he’ll do he’s done it that way before he’s doing it in Isaiah‘s lifetime and he’ll do it in the future. That’s the God we serve. The limitations it says that his love and mercy for us is new every morning. The Psalmist writes and says he’s our rock our refuge. Isaiah says he’s a wonderful God. How can you be beige when a wonderful God like that loves you so much and has promised to take care of you. God keeps his promises!
“David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’” 2 Samuel 12:22
Although he was called a man after God’s own heart, David was far from the stellar example of spiritual or political leadership that any of us would aspire to. His statements above, come as a result of a scandal he caused that would rival any political or religious scandal today. David had an affair with a married woman who got pregnant. He murdered her husband to try to cover up his actions. When confronted by a prophet of God, David was informed that the baby would get sick eventually die. God keeps his word. When the baby became sick David went into a state of mourning. He fasted. He prayed. He wept. He begged God for mercy, grace and forgiveness in hopes that the baby would survive. But it didn’t happen. The baby died.
Sometimes we pray and God doesn’t answer as we’d like. We pray. We plead. We bargain. We may even implement a prayer team on our behalf, but nothing helps. Here David teaches us a valuable lesson. Even in those times God disappoints us, we need to move on trusting his wisdom and knowing that as a sovereign God his way is best.
As C. S. Lewis said, “Life with God is not immunity from difficulties but peace within difficulties.” God may not answer the way we like, but he will always answer in a way that is best for us if we trust him.
“And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.” Revelation 21:6
“It is finished.” Those words bring a variety of emotions. If you’ve been working on a project it brings the satisfaction of victory over all the frustrations it took to get to the point where all your efforts see a great result. Sometimes, the phrase “It is finished” can bring pain and anguish, such as when a relationship ends, a career suddenly is taken from you or a loved one passes away. But when Jesus says “It is finished”, it says completeness. All the sorrows you’ve endured? Relief! All the fear and anxiety you harbor? Comfort! The pain of broken relationships? Healed! The frustration of addiction? Release! You’re anger over unfair treatment? Satisfied! The result is like a cool fountain of spring water that cools, refreshes, satisfies and strengthens. One day our victory will be revealed because in Jesus it is already finished!
“How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” James 4:14
I remember staying overnight at my grandparents cabin. Quite often fog covered the lake in the morning and you couldn’t see much past the front steps. But soon the sun rose and the fog disappeared. Then it was forgotten and we went about our day without giving the fog a thought. Fog is a lot like our daily struggles. Very real when we are in the midst of them but quite often the worries we struggle with today are forgotten tomorrow. Struggles, like fog in the morning, cloud our view but when the sun (SON) enters we can enjoy life! Remember, Hod is in control no matter what men may do here on earth. His plan WILL succeed!
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 