In Every Circumstance
"God’s ideas about our flourishing are different than ours. We think flourishing means eight hours of shut-eye, a good job, being surrounded by people who treat us with respect, being given the opportunity to succeed at something, good medical care, a loving marriage, and happy children. Those are good things, but they are not the things God is most concerned about supplying us in this life for our flourishing.In God’s economy, we flourish when our need for Him is met in Him. There is no circumstance under heaven that God isn’t using to grow us into oaks of righteousness. There is no need that He won’t fill with Himself. The promise is really true: God really will supply all our needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). There is nothing we truly need that is not found in Christ.
Even more, the circumstances of being denied an earthly need or desire are often His tailored means of accelerating our holiness and happiness in Him. When we want, we are given more of Christ. When we suffer, our solidarity with him grows.
As usual, Elisabeth was right, “God has promised to supply all our needs. What we don’t have now, we don’t need now.” And what we do need now, we do have now: God the Father’s loving, sovereign hand working all things for our good (Romans 8:28); Christ the Son as our advocate, Savior, and righteousness (1 John 2:1; Philippians 3:20; 1 Corinthians 1:30); and the Holy Spirit’s intercession, help, and comfort surrounding us day by day (Romans 8:26–27).
So, at the end of our lives, we truly will be able to say, “I never wanted for anything. I never had a ‘no’ from my Father that wasn’t a ‘yes’ to better and deeper things.”
Extracted from https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/god-knows-what-you-dont-have - 9 Nov, 2018
: Do It Again, God (https://www.desiringgod.org)
"The temptations were already there for some as they walked silently around Jericho for six days. You can imagine them thinking, Why doesn’t he just knock the walls down now? God had told them how their victory would happen, but seven days probably began to feel like seven years while they walked and waited, walked and waited.
“One day, he will give you everything — and everything else will pale compared to having him.
If you’ve walked with Jesus for long, you’ve likely felt what some of
them were feeling: a hope in God’s promises mixed with rising
impatience about his timing; an awareness of God’s bigness and wisdom,
but a lingering suspicion that you know better than he does; a genuine
faith that he would come through in the end, but with persistent
questions about how he would do it."
Words that really ministered to my spirit in this season of finding assurance and hope not in the earthly desires and norms.
My God, my Heavenly Abba Father and the Lover of my soul truly and deeply knows my deepest desires and thoughts.
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