Sunday, March 20, 2011

Recognizing the Awesomeness of God


by Jennifer AlLee


I am often baffled by the children of Israel. The Old Testament is chock full of stories where God's chosen people doubt him, question him, even rebel against him. Now, I'm not saying I expected them to be perfect. But you would think that after seeing him do miraculous things, such as parting the Red Sea, the people would have a bit more faith.

Jesus' disciples weren't much better. They hung out with the Son of God for three years. They walked the roads with him, sat in boats, slept under the same roofs. They saw him heal the sick, raise the dead, and walk on water. Yet they never really seemed to understand his mission. At least not until after his resurrection.

I'd like to think that if I lived back in Bible-days, I would have recognized the power and majesty of God. If I had stood before Jesus, seen what the disciples saw, surely I would have gotten it. I mean, how can you miss it when the miracles are right in front of your eyes?

But it's really not that simple, is it? If I'm honest, I know that God shows me miracles every day. The beauty and power of his creation is all around me. It's all around you. Any of you ladies who've given birth know exactly what I mean. Or think of our own bodies. The human eye alone is a marvel that can't be duplicated in a lab. Only the Creator of the Universe could make something as amazing as that out of nothing.

Still, I doubt. I let worry creep into my life. I try to fix things, certain that if I don't, everything will fall apart. I forget, or ignore, that God is so much bigger than me. He's bigger than my troubles. And he's more than capable of providing for me in ways I could never imagine. There's a scripture in James that I first came across a few months ago. Now, it seems to pop up all over the place.
Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. (James 4:12-16, NLT)
I don't believe James is telling us not to plan ahead. I think what he's condemning is when we make plans without consulting the Lord. When we move forward, not out of prayerful conviction that we're doing God's will, but out of fear that we must take control and make things work... that's when we get into trouble.

It's a lesson I need to learn daily. My prayer for all of us is that we will rest in the Lord's goodness, knowing that his plans are the best plans.

Amen!


 
JENNIFER ALLEE believes the most important thing a woman can do is find her identity in God – a theme that carries throughout her novels. A professional writer for over twenty years, she's done extensive freelance work for Concordia Publishing House, including skits, Bible activity pages, and over 100 contributions to their popular My Devotions series. Her first novel, The Love of His Brother, was released by Five Star Publishers in November 2007. Her latest novel, The Pastor’s Wife, was released by Abingdon Press in February 2010. Her upcoming novel, The Mother Road, will be released by Abingdon Press in April 2012. She's a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Christian Authors Network, and the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance.

http://jenniferalleesite.blogspot.com/
http://thepastorswifespeaks.blogspot.com/

6 comments:

  1. Good post, Jen! I so often fail to consult God when making my plans. And then I whine about it when things don't happen on my schedule. I seriously think sometimes that he must be sick of me. I'm certainly sick of me at times!

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  2. Amen, Jennifer! "Resting in His goodness, knowing that His plans are the best plans." I'm going to make that my theme today!
    Thank you! Have a blessed day, everyone!!

    Congratulations Dina- Love your title!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I often think about how faithless the Old Testament Jews appear. It makes me wonder if I would have done the same or if I would have trusted God's leading.

    God is an awesome God. If we could learn to trust Him with every aspect of our lives, oh how happy we would be!

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  4. I'm pretty sure I'd have been second guessing Moses

    I often pray Lord make it clear...I trust him, the problem is discernment and waiting. I tend to strike out on my own and hope He changes my direction quickly! If I'm off target.

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  5. Great post, Jen. My problem is also discernment and waiting. I need to pray for patience and the ears to hear Him. His ways are best, always.

    I love how Lisa prettified our background for Easter! Thanks, Lisa!

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  6. Jen, I loved how you mentioned the human eye is such a marvel. I've been studying the human body for the last two years, and it is truly a miraculous thing, the millions of cells, the components of each cell and the amount of work each one does to keep us functioning. Miracles really are all around us and within us. These classes I'm taking have really opened my eyes to that.

    Like the others have mentioned, I need to be more patient. I need to remember to consult God in everything I do. Often times I fail in that.

    ReplyDelete

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