Wednesday 3 Apr 2013

Wednesday Reading: James 1:12-18

Key Verse: James 1:17
17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Devotion:
We do not have to suffer in order to be blessed. We do not have to lose everything before we can gain blessings from God. I thank my God that we do not have to be like Job who had to endure so much before being blessed by God once again – and it was once again because Job was very blessed in the beginning. We know this because God was telling Satan how dedicated Job was before Satan showed his evil ways.

None of the attrition that came to Job came from God; it was all directly from Satan as he wielded his evil ways and tried to get Job to turn his back on God! How can we turn our backs on God when we know that He has done so much for us already? Right from the beginning of creation through to now and beyond into the future we see how much God has done and is willing to do for us. If we do not see this as a blessing then surely we have our eyes closed to reality!

But when we do have to face hardships and when we do have to put up with what evil people bring into our lives, we need to remember that none of this comes from God. It is those perfect gifts that come from God. It is all that is good and righteous that comes from God. Man and Satan work their evil ways and bring all manner of trials and horror into our lives and it is those things that will turn us away from God if we are not careful. Job was very careful to remember that God does not dish out dirt and does not trap us into horrible situations. Job lifted his praise up to God continually. Yes he also asked God why things happen, but he continued to trust God and allow God to fix what went wrong.

If God only supplies the perfect gifts then we should place our faith and trust in Him wholly so that everything that we do get will be perfect. But we falter, we doubt, we hold back and we refuse; giving the evil one room to manoeuvre and to bring havoc into our lives. If we are the ones that allow the horrible things into our lives because of our doubt and lack of faith, then why should we ever think that we have the right to be upset? Are we not inviting this upon ourselves through our own doubts? Have faith in God and trust in Him to deliver the perfect goods direct to our doors!

Points to Ponder:
What doubts do you have?

Have you tried giving them to God?