Hope Discovery of the Day:
Our understanding is limited to our position in this life unless we seek wisdom from God.
Scripture of the Day:
Psalms 92:5-6
“How great are your works, O LORD! Your plans are very intricate! 6 The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this; the fool does not understand this.”
Amos 3:7
“Certainly the Sovereign LORD does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”
“I don’t understand why I can’t do . . .” Fill in the blank. Ever heard one of your kids say this statement? Their perspective is formed by what they want and their beliefs seem like the only relevant opinion in the room. I get it. Our world is colored by what we feel and by what we have experienced in this life. But when we seek wisdom from God’s word and seek to understand outside of ourselves, our perspective is enlightened and we realize that everything is not all about us.
[Tweet “Our understanding is limited to our position in this life unless we seek wisdom in God’s word.”]
Just like our kids, we can be guilty of the same doubtfulness concerning God’s plan. We just don’t get it when things happen in this life that seem “wonky”. Our perspective can be derived from the same mentality of experiencing life through the lens of it being all about us. But we can understand God’s plans through relationship with Him. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with the Creator of the universe? But sometimes things of this world can inhibit relationship.
Sin.
Sin is deceitful and prevents us from seeing the spiritual realities all around us. It blinds us from seeing God’s perfect plan. The Scripture above says that “The spiritually insensitive do not recognize God’s plan. They cannot understand His ways. Until. Until we recognize that we were made for God, not the other way around. Until we see that He gave us life so we could offer it back to Him. Until we search His word for understanding.Sin loses its power when we seek to find understanding in God’s Word instead of within ourselves or the world around us.[Tweet “Sin loses its power when we seek to find understanding in God’s Word instead of within ourselves.”]
Self on the throne.
The cares of this life spur on disillusionment from the many disappointments of life. When our perspective is entrenched in what we feel and know instead of on what God says, we can be given to despair. We were made for His glory, not ours. When life hurts, we can ask God for understanding, but more important than trying to understand life’s sorrows is seeking to glorify God in them. [Tweet “More important than trying to understand life’s sorrows is seeking to glorify God in them.”] [Tweet “Instead of focusing on pain in this life, we can ask God how our story can be a part of His redemptive plan for this world.”] [Tweet “As we clear our head from self-centered theology, we are free to know God and desire His will over our own.”]
Relationship.
Not all know God. When life is a blur and filled with immense pain, man can doubt the benefits of a relationship with a God Who would allow that pain in. But a relationship based only on the gifts we receive rather than on the character of God is superficial. We can understand God’s will through the names ascribed to Him, reflecting His character. Our great, Almighty God wants us to know Him. He created us for relationship. With Him. [Tweet “More than understanding why, when we encounter the Who in the midst of life, everything makes sense.”] And our God is with us in every pit and mountain this life brings.
When life is all about us, we become confused about our purpose and God’s plan. When we are freed from thinking this life is all about us, we are freed to be a part of God’s redemptive plan. [Tweet “Ironically, when we let go of our concern for ourselves, we then understand how everything God does has been with us in mind, after all.”] We are the apple of His eye.
When we think it is a death to die to our agenda, we realize it is actually life. Hidden in Christ, free to live for God and not self. God is able to change our perspective as we seek His understanding and not our own. Need wisdom for whatever you are facing right now? God generously gives wisdom to all who seek it. How amazing that the Creator of the universe would reveal His plan to His creation. He doesn’t have to, but He longs for us to have a relationship with Him. He opens our eyes and we come and seek to understand his will, not ours.
Lord, thank You for revealing first and foremost, our need of You. Help us to trust You when it seems we have been forgotten. All Your plans are good and when we think we don’t matter, You remind us that we are the apple of Your eye and You promise to use everything for our good and Your glory.
My song, “You Are Worthy” reveals our need to declare His worth. He is worthy!
I’m not surprised at all that majority of us are so fixed to focus on our self, everything that goes on and around us. Instead of magnifying God and glorifying our Lord and savior.We are forgetting that it is all about God the center of everything, the one that sacrifice and die on the cross for us. We get easily distracted, we are forgetting that He is the only way and no other way. I’m guilty. I get so easily destructed . Praying that God will help, and guide me or change me the way he wants me to be as a child of God. Surely His unfailing love and goodness will pursue me all the days of my life. We should not forget all his promises, trust him, he is in control and has a better plan for us. Thank you Lord.
Me, too, Fe! So thankful the LORD shows us our need of Him! He is our life!