There are some things that God instantaneously and miraculously delivers us from when we become His. But then there are other things that we continue to struggle with. “Lord, why won’t you just take this out of my life?” The reason He doesn’t snap His fingers and remove every struggle is because He wants to test our hearts through those struggles.
Don’t misunderstand. It’s never God’s will for us to fall to sin. He doesn’t tempt us to sin (James 1:13). But He does allow exposure to sin to reveal what we’re made of. Do we sinfully submit or righteously resist? The answer goes a long way in revealing what’s inside our hearts.
God is always seeking sincerity from us. He doesn’t want us to be “spiritually correct” with Him. The temptation is constantly there to pretend with the Lord. It does no good. He is sickened and nauseated by it (Revelation 3:16).
God always wants us to be real with Him. If we’re hurting, angry, or feeling distant from Him, He wants us to express it. Sincerity of heart is something that He always can and will work with.
Devotional
God never gives up on us, even when we give Him every reason to. Even when we’re “a great way off,” He longingly looks in our direction. Sometimes our prodigal behavior makes us want to give up on ourselves. But no matter how far we fall, we need to know and trust that God never gives up on us.
He who has begun a good work in you will complete it… (Philippians 1:6 NKJV)
To Denise (although I know you’re asleep), I think this is what’s happening to us right now. I think it’s a wonderful thing. :)
Without Faith
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Whenever God reveals something, He expects us to believe Him and adjust our lives accordingly. What does this mean? It means we trust Him implicitly for all of our needs because He says He will provoide (Phil. 4:19). It means we approach crises with the assurance that God will bring good from them (Rom. 8:28). It means we overcome anziety during stressful situations because God instructs us to bring our requests to Him (Phil. 4:6). It means that we never worry that we are alone because God said He would never leave or forsake us (Deut. 31:6). It means that, despite what happens in our lives, we will never doubt God’s love because He has told us that He loves us with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3).
At times we try to justify our lack of faith! We know what God has promised, but we doubt that He will make a practical difference in our life. We are filled with anxiety and excuse ourselves by saying: “I am just a worrier!” We become bitter during a crisis and reason that “God could not possibly bring anything good out of this pain!” We appeal for help from everyone around us when we have a need; then we explain: “I know God can provide for my needs, but I think I should do everything I can, just in case.” God calls this faithlessness. Faithlessness is sin. “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11:6).
