God Won’t Do It All…

Before you jump to conclusions about my title, read the entire post. There are times when He will not do it all.

Last night, as I lie in bed, I thought about this post. I wanted to jump up right then to write it but it wasn’t quite formed yet. So I slept on it. Today in my email there is a daily devotion from DaySpring on Matthew 19:26- “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Their focus was on “With God all things are possible”) Then it says, “Go for it! He’s got you covered… and then some.” But does he really? I know he has us ‘covered’ but I don’t think that means “Go for it!” –at least not all the time.

We know that in Matthew 7:7-8 it states “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” And also in Luke 11:9-10 we read it again.

James 4:3 “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” There are times when he will not give us what we ask for, for the reasons that are mentioned in the verse above. We want something and we are sure it is in God’s will, in his plan. But it may not be.

There was something I wanted so bad. I prayed for it and it seemed that it was in his plan. All seemed to go the way it ‘should’. But when I look back on it, I made it be part of his plan. I don’t think it was now that I have given it up. It caused me undue stress; it took me away from him and his plan; my home and family suffered because of it. Yet, I had been adamant that he had given me what I wanted because I had asked for it.

God didn’t give me a yes but (and this is what *I* believe) I was so stubborn that it was what I wanted, what I asked for, repeatedly that God let it go as it would. When I would get in a rut because of my stubbornness, I would call out to him and plead for him to release me from the troubles. Fix my problem. And he did a few times. But I came to expect it. I started to get into more troubles because I was not in line with his plans. I know that is what it was now that I look back on it.

He stopped fixing my problems.

It didn’t mean he left me or abandoned me. No. He was still beside me. But he showed me, time and again, that I was traveling my own path. Not his.

When I finally realized this, the pressure was off and he ‘held’ me. It was much like when one of my own children make a mistake and when they realize it, they need comfort. I don’t say “I told you so”. I hold them if they need it; I am there to comfort.

It was another time in my life when I realized that I must be more than just about myself. I am a selfish person so often and half of the time, I don’t realize it! I must be more careful with what I do. Must be more careful with what I ask for, what I seek, what door I knock on. Because many times God will give us what it is that we want but we must be careful to not simply ask so that we may consume it upon our lusts. That was my problem.

I’m glad that God won’t do it all…all the time.

Photos:
Fork in the Road, http://matthewtavares1.com/posts/02/personal-realignments/fork-in-the-road1/
OpenBible, http://www.parkersmillroadbaptist.org/history.html