Purpose

The Proper Result

It’s not unusual to want God to be good to us.

We want Him to give us good things, remove trials from our lives, and prepare the path that we need to walk.

We want these things because we want our lives to be easy, and “fulfilling.” We want our lives to be comfortable.

And while it may be natural to want these things,  it is perhaps equally as natural to focus on the wrong outcome of them.

More often than not, we want God to be good for what it does for us. But God’s goodness is not just about us. Perhaps it would be fair to say that God’s goodness is not primarily about us. God’s goodness is about Him.

The Psalmist got this. In Pslam 67:1-2 it is written:

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.

Did you catch it? The purpose of God’s graciousness and blessing is so that His fame may increase; it is so that as a result, more people will know Him.

That means that the blessings God gives us aren’t about us, they are about Him. One of the ways that God uses our lives to make Himself known is through the good gifts He grants us.

If we had this focus, would it change the things we asked for? If we were concerned with more people knowing God as a result of the blessings He gave us, would it alter our requests?

I tend to think it would. I think we would be less concerned with a comfortable life, and more focused on a God-honoring one. I think, like the Psalmist, our concern would be with God’s face shining upon us – that God would be pleased with the life that we live. And that as a result, God would be made known.

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Hope

Heart Failure

Although heart disease may be one of the leading causes of death in America, it’s not the only type of suffering that our heart endures.

Our heart contends with the pain of losing a loved one, the regrets of words unspoken and the shame of loss jobs. Hearts battle with the uncertainty of an unknown future, the fear of unforeseen enemies, and the discord of broken relationships. Our hearts are fragile, and the older we get the more we realize that it’s not broken bones that we must be concerned with, but broken hearts.

However, through all of this, Scripture says our heart can stay strong, because we know the One who gives it strength.

As Psalm 73:25-26 states:

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Did you catch that? Not only does God provide what we need for eternity, but in the dredges of this Earthly life, He promises that we can endure, because we have His strength to fortify our hearts.

So when our hearts are weary, we can keep going.

When our hearts are heavy, the burden is lightened.

When our hearts are failing, they can be strengthened.

Because of God’s provision.

And the more we seek and trust in Him, the more we realize that He’s all that we need, for this life, and the next.

 

 

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