2 Samuel 12:19–23 (ESV) —
19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” 20 Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
NOTE: So we could say, David was not a "name it and claim it" advocate. Some would argue that the reason his prayer was not answered was his sin. But the sin was previous and forgiven, and who is not guilty of sin at least once in any given day? No, David's response is a mature response. God is in charge. God can choose to be gracious, but God is not controlled by our prayers --
"God is God and I am not … for only God is God … I can only see a part of the picture he's painting … Let us worship before the throne … So, I'll never understand it all" (Steven Curtis Chapman).
Faith is not getting what you want. Faith is believing that you got exactly what God planned for you (Heb 11:6). Faith is believing God loves me and has my (true and eternal) best interests at heart.
PONDER:
- Do I have faith? Or do I just want to control God to make my world work?
PRAYER: Father, forgive me for trying to control you to make my kingdom work. I am not you. I must trust you. I must believe you are aware and are working to bring good in the situation. Forgive my lack of faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment