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Gleanings From The Word

Tag: proverbs

  • Those Little Doubts

    Christians often live their lives with an open question towards God. Sometimes we openly verbalize it, and other times it hovers in the background. That question is “God, show me your plan.”  I don’t think it’s a conscious thing, but we’re treating God as a fortune teller or oracle of some kind. It’s true that God is outside of time and sees it all, but that doesn’t mean we need to know all the answers.  Those questions reveal the secret little doubts that we can sometimes harbor.  

    We know God will come through for others and truly believe that. Yet, we listen to the whispers of the enemy or our own self-doubts and doubt that we are worthy of Him coming through for us.

    There are some verses from the Bible that most of us have memorized:

    Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

    Trust in Yahweh with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
    In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.     Proverbs 3:6-6

    Those verses are easy to recite and, in some ways, easy to believe, but much harder to live out in practice. We want to see where our footsteps will land rather than trusting God to guide us. Those nagging little doubts about our worthiness hold us back.

    Of course, based on our own merits, none of us is worthy. That’s why we needed Jesus in the first place. As believers, we are co-heirs with Christ, worthy not because of our own merit but because of who He is. God sees us with the imputed righteousness of Christ.

    There is a story in three of the four gospels of a man who wants Jesus to heal his Son. Jesus asked the man if he believed, and the reply is how we sometimes feel.

    Immediately the boy’s father cried out and was saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” Mark 9:24

    Can we relate?

    James calls us to be doers of the word, not just hearers. Jesus calls us to obey His commands. That takes faith. Our faith calls us to step past our little doubts.

    What if instead of treating God as our personal oracle, or listening to those little doubts, we simply started living life as His Word and Spirit call us? What if we strove for lives of simple trust or obedience? 

    How would that change the way we live?

    Some simple self-examination and prayer might be in order. Where are we not trusting Him? Where are we wanting to move in certainty rather than faith? What’s holding us back from simple obedience?

    God will not fail us.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    When we say no to God

    SUMMARY

    I unpack why we quietly treat God like a fortune teller, demanding to see the plan instead of trusting Him with it. Real faith isn’t about certainty; it’s about obedience even while the doubts are still talking.

    TAKE AWAY

    We often ask God to reveal the future rather than trusting His guidance 

    Little doubts about our own worthiness can quietly undermine our faith 

    True faith looks like obedience, not certainty

    Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone) 

    The church needs you

  • Out of Place

    Dunlin - a bird out of place - image believed to be public domain

    Yesterday, as I stood in the backyard barbequing, I had my Merlin app recording in the background. It picked up the sound of a bird that seemed out of place. I had never even heard of this bird.

    I thought, improbable, it must be a mistake, but it picked it up repeatedly and this time I heard it as well. It was a dunlin, a type of migratory shorebird that shouldn’t be in Abbotsford. It was definitely out of place.

    The only thing I could think of was the fact that we’ve had some strong winds of late. It must have been blown off course.

    Sometimes, we feel like that dunlin. Out of place. Why are we at this job, or living in that community? Why do we have the neighbors that we do?

    The simple answer is that God has placed us, or allowed us to be there. 

    The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to inhabit all the face of the earth, having  determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’ Acts 17:24-27

    The heart of man plans his way, But Yahweh directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9 

    God can use where you are—and how you got there—for a purpose, even if the path there involved human choices, chance, or hardship. He works in all things for the good of those who love Him.

    In the words of 16th-century Saint Francis de Sales, from his book Introduction to the Devout Life, “Be who you are and be that well.” It was an encouragement to grow spiritually within their current circumstances rather than wishing for different ones. While I may not agree with all his theology, he was right on this point.

    In popular Christian literature, it has become cut down into the rather trite phrase “Bloom where you are planted.”  Still, it’s a valid concept.

    Even if you feel out of place, there are opportunities to grow spiritually and to serve the Lord. Make the most of them.

    Trust in him to work despite your circumstances. You are not out of place in God’s eyes.

    Be blessed
    Kevin

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