“I took care of you in a dry, desert land. But when you entered the good land, you became full and satisfied, and then you grew proud and forgot me.” Hosea 13:5,6 GNT
How can this happen? Why is it that one minute we can be desperately crying out for God’s help, then when He gives it, we say, “Yes! I did it!”
Maybe our prayer was for success at school or at our job. Maybe it was for rescue from a bully. Maybe it was for enough money to put food on the table or to pay a bill. Or perhaps it was for reassurance that we are loved.
God rescued His people from slavery, led them, and miraculously fed them in the wilderness for 40 years.
But when He brought them into the promised land and gave each family their plot of land and pasture for their flocks, they became satisfied with the provision instead of the Provider. Suddenly they were thinking that they were providing for themselves. They forgot that it had all come from God and was completely a blessing from His hand.
As I mentioned in my last post, pride and forgetting God can lead to unkindness and the breakdown of relationships. Suddenly you hear phrases like “It’s mine! Don’t touch it!” (siblings), or “I earned this money; you have no say in how I spend it!” (teen to parent or even one spouse to another).
Our culture has become saturated with this same self-satisfaction and forgetting of God.
Multitudes have forgotten, and many downright refuse to believe, that all the blessings we have come from God.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17
I don’t love suffering any more than the next person, but I have discovered that having a relationship with the God who CARES for us in all our troubles, and remembering His love daily, far surpasses any satisfaction we can have with the things He provides!
So, if having lack in some area brings us into a closer walk with the God who cares, then that lack is a blessing in disguise!
If I lack satisfaction in health, finances, friendship, family, or any other area, I can find my satisfaction in God and be filled with joy!
He is our greatest Joy, our most precious Treasure, our Provider, and our Strength!
Today I’m thankful for the lack of satisfaction that reminds me to cast my cares on God!
I’m thankful that He cares for me and wants a relationship with me!
What about you? Have you been discouraged because things have not been ideal lately? Have you cried out to God for help? Have you found Him to be the one Joy that surpasses all others? Won’t you seek to know Him today?
Thanks for this excellent post ! May we always find joy in our Provider, rather than in only what he provides. He always knows best how to help us to grow in holiness. 🤗
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You’re welcome!
Yes! Amen!
Yes, He does! 🤗
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Thanks for the reminder here….this is something that I often find happening in myself….God delivers me from something and, when everything is over, I’m like, “YES! I SURVIVED. I did this.” And forget about God. 😦
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You’re welcome!
Yes, I think a lot of us struggle with this at times. The Lord knows our need for reminders here. The good news is that He reminds us and keeps on helping us when we call out to Him.
You’re doing well to recognize and admit your need. That’s always the first step in progress. Like one of the current Christian songs says, “You can get up up again.” Praise God for His mercy every time we run back to Him in repentance.
Also, we have an enemy that delights in distracting us from God. So we need to be intentional in remembering God and putting on the whole armor of God to resist the devil so he will flee from us. Ephesians 6, James 4:7
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You’re so right. Thank you for the encouragment and the reminder. ❤
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You’re welcome! God bless you, sister!
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❤
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How encouraging, Ruth! And so very true! I need to remember so often to get my eyes off the provision and look at my Provider. Thank you for this word today.
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Praise God! Yes! His precious Word is true; and “ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
May the Lord help us all to turn our eyes toward Him!
You’re welcome! Thank you for reading and for your encouraging comment!
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