In your heart of hearts, in the darkest of darks, do you believe that God is a giver or a taker?
Do you think of Him as a giver in Heaven but a taker here on earth?
Is fear of what He might take from us holding us back from giving Him complete control in our lives ?
Are you scared of the Lord?
What do our actions and our prayer life convey?
I know in my head that God is a giver but I am realizing this week that often I don't act like it! At times I respond to God in fear. I dig my heels in on the edge where He asks me to jump in faith. I feel the strong urge to "protect" myself and grip tightly to the wheel.
I hate the thought that I would believe something untrue about my Father! As a parent, I have had to take things away from my children that were potentially harmful to them or sometimes as a form of discipline for a time, but it would be heartbreaking to me if my children were to think of me as a "taker" in their life. If they were afraid to trust me, I would be crushed! I LOVE to give to my kids! My Father is way more giving and worthy of trust than me!
This week pray that God's Spirit will reveal any lie that we are believing about our Father. Ask Him to bring healing to hurts that may have caused you to believe the lie.
Look for Scriptures that show the Truth about God as a giver! For example...
John 3:16 Rom 6:23
Acts 2:38 James 1:17
Eph 2:8 Rev. 22:17
Girls, 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that God has NOT given us a spirit of fear but He has given us power, love and self-control. He has given us all we need to overcome our feelings and act on what we know is the TRUTH!
I'm praying for you! Hope to hear what God is saying in your life this week!
3 comments:
This week has really hit me. It has been constantly on my mind...do I really believe God is a giver? To some degree I do, but I do fear what He might test me with or "take" from me often. I think this fear often paralyzes me...so this week I have been trying to wrap my mind around the idea of God being an extravagant giver and my very great reward. Hmm...still wrestling
I have to agree with Laurie, I have been struggling all week! I've talked to friends/fellow believers and some have said without a doubt that God is a giver, others have been like me, a little less faith at times. I think it's those hard times that I tend to question whether God is a giver or a taker. Then there are those times that I am so afraid to take a leap of faith because what if I screw it up? Will my "Heavenly Papa" be upset with me (as I would be with my own child for making mistakes) and "put me in time out or take away my privileges". Also at times I feel so inadequate and wonder how could God just keep on giving when I sometimes take it and make a huge mess of things? Definitely has been a thought provoking week, but I am hoping that turns into spiritual growth!
I definitely sense the Holy Spirit stirring things in my heart about last week's video teaching. I too feel that fear is at the root of my seeing God as a taker...Fear that He will take someone or something away if I fully relinquish control to Him. I’ve been asking the Lord to reveal what is at the root (the root of the root, oh goodness!) of this fear, and where I’ve landed is this: I fear, because I have personally experienced loss and have seen other people experience loss. To me, this “loss” equals suffering. And as I suffer (or see others suffer) I can quickly begin to fear that this will become my constant…Rather than the pain-free, stress-free, problem-free existence I crave. I will be the first to admit, I Iove control! So suffering does not mesh too well with my control-freakness, because my flesh wants to control the suffering right out of my life!
So this week, I have been meditating on the fact that God has not called us to this spirit (and lie) of fear, nor has He called us to a pain-free, stress-free, problem-free life. In the midst of the suffering (whatever it may look like) He longs to bring healing, peace, comfort, love and confidence in Him. He longs to give Himself to us, in ways we wouldn’t understand or know without walking through that specific time of suffering. I pray I (and we) will be able to trust that our Father will work all things for our good (even when that means suffering) and that He will receive all glory and honor. I pray too that His Spirit would be reminding us of the specific and amazing ways that He has given to each of us, and through this reminding, the “fear lie” be crushed…In it’s place, humility and awe of our great God.
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