“The Lord hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” (Psalm 34:17-18 NLT)
If you’re walking faithfully with the Lord, have you ever stopped to consider just how valuable that relationship is? The verses above give us insight into our special “status” with the Lord. You may have a heart for children, especially those who are suffering or hungry, but that level of concern doesn’t compare with how you think of your own child or children.
God doesn’t see us as a collection of people who love Him, He sees each one of us as if we were His only child. The intimacy we can have with God, the closeness, the freedom we enjoy knowing our every concern is on our Heavenly Father’s heart and mind is beyond description and is of incalculable worth.
Each day we face new challenges, pains, heartaches, and avenues of suffering due to our inability to grasp the weight of all we face from all the sources that demand our attention. What a comfort to know our dear, loving, kind and caring heavenly Father has them all sorted out. On the days when I’m struggling physically and emotionally, I don’t have to explain anything to my Abba, my heavenly Papa, He knows every detail and has more clarity than I, not only about what I’m feeling and experiencing, but about what needs to happen to correct the problem.
Oh, the price we pay when we don’t take our every care to our Heavenly Father! The burdens we bare, the emotional torment and strain we suffer trying to carry the weight of our burdens alone. I’m reminded of the poor widow in 2 Kings 4 whose sons were at risk of being taken from her if she couldn’t pay her debt. Rather than worry and fret, she immediately went to the man of God, Elisha, and God miraculously supplied her needs.
Over and over throughout the Old and New Testaments God provides in miraculous ways, many times for people who don’t even profess faith in Him. Think of the feeding of the 5,000 men, plus women and children in Matthew 14 and the feeding of 4,000 men, plus women and children in Matthew 15. Jesus didn’t fret or “send them away,” as His disciples had suggested, He simply ask His heavenly Abba to provide what was needed, and He did!
When we’re exercising confidence in God through faith and trust, our worry, anxiety and stress are eliminated, but if we choose to nurture them instead, they become the price we pay for not placing our full confidence in our Father who has never failed. “Yeh, but I prayed for a new car, and I didn’t get one.” I also didn’t pray first, bought a new car and lived to regret it. Often times God’s “NO” is a gift we couldn’t have anticipated.
Another common question is: “Why should I consult God about something I can easily afford?” Just because we can afford something doesn’t make it right for us to purchase it. What if rather than purchase something that’s a luxury or non-necessity for us, we bought something for someone else that is a necessity for them?
In our lack of trust in God, evidenced by our moving forward with decisions that should be presented to the Lord, we miss opportunities to be a blessing for another person, and to put a smile on our Father’s holy face. It becomes another in a long line of ways we pay a price for our lack of trust in our Father.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 