Human need, Divine provision

“The Lord will give what is good” – Psalm 85:12

Throughout this psalm, we encounter some of the glorious words of our faith – salvation, forgiveness, glory, revival, love and faithfulness. It is in this context that the psalmist declares that the Lord will indeed give what is good.

At times it is good to lift our eyes above our immediate needs and concerns, and call to mind that these great themes are what is on God’s heart as he expresses his love and care for us.  In other words, he is not simply concerned with meeting our immediate needs, but is concerned with these greater issues in our lives as well.

Let’s not be tempted to think that therefore he will somehow let our smaller needs go unmet, but he longs to meet our smaller needs in the context of the greater things that He is seeking to sow into our lives. In other words, we should not think that God is planning to give us less, far from it, he is planning to give us more.  We may only see a fraction of what we need, God sees all of our lives in the context of all that he is seeking to sow into us.

So what does this mean for us?  We are encouraged to go to God with our needs, but he is not our slave, simply there to do our bidding, he is concerned with pouring greater things into our lives, so let us look for his actions beyond the immediate thing for which we pray.  What else is God doing? What other signs of his presence can we discern?

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Showing love

“Defend the cause of the weak.” – Psalm 82: 3

We are very prone to see life through the lenses of our own needs.  Whilst the message rings out from the pages of scripture that God cares for those needs, it also becomes obvious from reading the Bible that God is on the side of justice and care for the weak, and his desire is that we catch that desire and make it our own.

This often means looking beyond our own needs, to reach out to help another.  There are many ways we can do this – but perhaps the most important step is to allow God to open our eyes to the need around us.  It is a simple prayer – “Father open my eyes to see someone I can help.”

The help may not even be of what might be thought of as of earth shattering significance, perhaps a small gift of time, or even to make someone feel that they are valued and not just a face in the crowd.

As soon as we take that step, we really do begin to walk with Jesus as we care for those about whom he cares, and begin to enter into the love that he has for all those he has created.

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Growing in Trust

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel , says . . . ‘I’” – Joshua 24: 2

In Joshua 24, God speaks through Joshua and reminds the people of all that he has done for them.  It is amazing to look through that chapter and count the number of times the word ‘I’ occurs.  God is not being self-centred, he wants them to know that every good thing they have achieved has actually been because he has been with them. That also has a reason, namely that they, remembering that God has been with them in the past, will know that he is with them in the present and the future.

It is often hard to recognise the presence of God in our lives at the current moment.  We tend to judge it by whether we feel him there or not.

Take a moment to reflect on the past few days.  As you look back, how can you see that the hand of God was there?  What has he been doing?  Reflect on whether you sensed that at the time.

It is probably true that genuine trust is believing that he is with you and is acting even when you can’t see or feel him.  It is to that trust that we are called, and looking back at his actions in our lives is a sure way of growing in that trust.

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Slow Growth

“Other seed fell on good soil” – Mark 4: 8

We are all products of the instant age – we expect things to be done immediately, we certainly want God to do things instantly.

This is true when we pray, we want God to work to our time agenda.  It is also true of the way we sow the things of God into our lives. We would love to be instant disciples, immediately and dramatically changed into the likeness of Jesus.  This is not how it is.  In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about us being ‘transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory’ (2 Corinthians 3: 18).

When Jesus talks about us being good seed, we are just that, seed – not instant plants! As such, so much of our growth takes place without our realising that it is growth.  The uncomfortable truth is that our greatest moments of growth probably come in moments of difficulty.

Take a moment to ponder what may be difficult about life at the moment.  Whatever the situation may be – what do you think God wants of you in that time?  How does he want you to be, what does he want others to see in you?  Let him work his growth in you.

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Salvation is from God

“Make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved” – Psalm 80: 19

Salvation is an all-encompassing word.  It refers to our ultimate destiny and also to the life that we live here. It is about being rescued from something or things over which we are powerless.

This is a liberating truth in itself, if we are saved from something over which we are powerless, then there is nothing we can do to bring it about, it is all down to the Saviour.

This verse, which occurs three times in this psalm, is a beautiful reminder of this very thing – salvation comes from God shining his face upon us.  The psalm is one where the author is reflecting on the desperate state of God’s people.  The phrase ‘shine your face upon us’ is probably a reference to his presence being with us, as God draws near to us, into our situations, however desperate they may be, then his being there begins the process of our salvation.

Find that sense of his presence now, no matter what your situation, even if – perhaps especially if it is a situation of your own making. He does not expect you to find salvation by yourself.  His hearts desire is to draw near to you, wherever you may be, and lead you out.

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The faithfulness of God

“Not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed.” – Joshua 23: 14

If you could leave one final piece of wisdom for all posterity what would it be?  What is it that you have discovered that you would want the world to know?

As Joshua approached the end of his life, he gathered the people together to share his final thoughts as their leader.  In his speech he encourages them to stay close to God, and not to disobey his commands, but he does so not just as a stern command, but also with the encouragement that God is there for them.  No matter what their needs are, they need not be tempted find the answer to their needs in any sinful way, because God has always been with them, and none of his promises failed.

As Joshua looked back over his life, he could see the utter faithfulness of God to him, perhaps at the time he had his doubts and worries, but his final words to his people, his final words to us are that God can be trusted.

Hindsight is of course a wonderful thing, and we can probably all look back and see the hand of God that we probably could not see at the time, but as we go into this day, let’s do so with the assurance of Joshua ringing in our ears – Not one of all God’s promises will fail.

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Your value to God

“You were bought at a price” – 1 Corinthians 6: 20

A slightly macabre thing to imagine would be to suppose that you were kidnapped and your kidnappers demanded a ransom for you. What do you suppose would be a fair price to put on your life? How much do we think we are worth?

All too often, especially in moments of rejection, we feel worthless, and either feel that is probably what we are worth – not much, or we can feel angry that we are not being valued enough.

What Paul says in this phrase is something staggering, he does put a value on our lives, and it is this – we were worth the life and death of Jesus.  He bought us at a price, and the price was himself.

This is unbelievable, and so we get round it by thinking that the life and death of Jesus was the price for the whole of humanity – not us individually.  That is simply not true.  When Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep, and the shepherd leaving the flock to go off in search of the one who was lost, he was declaring the individual worth of the one, not simply the whole flock.

You matter to God, you matter so much that he bought you with the highest price he could pay.

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