Exactly What You Need
Exactly What You Need
Exactly What You Need
Exactly What You Need
If we are a child of God, He uses our best and worst decisions to draw us to Himself.
When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. -Psalm 73:21-24
In these verses, the psalmist gives us the full range of what many of us feel from day to day. And, he gives us a glimpse into how God uses all things to shape us to know and love him more.
Do You What You Want Or What You Need?
Great executives and consultants are tasked with designing solutions for their customers that will serve their needs–regardless of what people say they want. Steve Jobs said, “Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, ‘If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!' People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.”
God is the ultimate expert of what we need, and He uses what we want to show us those things. God is sovereign which means He is in complete control of everything. God also gives us free will which means He is able to use our best decisions and motives to give us what we need. However, He is also able to use our worst decisions and motives to give us what we need.
The Bible is full of verses that make His will for our lives clear. Through His Word, God gives us the opportunity to know His will and follow Him.
Like these verses from the book of Jeremiah:
- The Curse
This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives." -Jeremiah 17:5-6 - The Blessing
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. -Jeremiah 17:7-8
Cause and Effect? Not Exactly.
Many of us who trust God don’t have any trouble with verses like these. If we do the wrong thing we understand that we will likely suffer the consequences of our actions, and God will use them to discipline us and turn us back to Himself.
But, as humans we often want the relationship of cause and effect to be consistent. However, if we look around we see people doing evil things who don’t appear to be suffering, and we see people doing the right things yet sometimes suffering unimaginable griefs. So we wonder, why would a good God allow these inconsistencies? Job was a model of doing the right thing and yet went through incredible suffering. Joseph did the right thing by not giving into Potiphar’s wife, but was still thrown in prison and suffered (Genesis 39). Stephen was faithful to serve, even faithful to point out God’s word against the opposing religious forces, yet He was still stoned to death (Acts 6 and 7). If God allowed His own Son to suffer for our sake (1 Corinthians 5:21) how can we as followers of Christ expect different results (John 15:20)?
The Difference Is Fruit
While we may not prosper in all the ways we might hope, God uses our faithfulness and connectedness to Jesus to bear fruit.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. -John 15:5-8
Jesus goes on to describe fruit as others knowing God, following His commands, and loving others as He first loved us. So, while we may suffer, we will see the results of our attempts to be faithful will teach others to know Jesus.
The Prize Is Christ
The Bible shows us that the sovereignty and providence of God cannot be defined in any human discernible pattern. Yet, we know that God corrects the poor decisions of those He loves though suffering–leading them to humble reliance on His Son, Jesus. We also know that sometimes God allows our best decisions to result in suffering leading us to deeper humility, understanding, love, and reliance on Christ. If we are a child of God, He uses our best and worst decisions to draw us to Himself. The Apostle Paul says it this way, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. -Psalm 73: 25-28
When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. -Psalm 73:21-24
In these verses, the psalmist gives us the full range of what many of us feel from day to day. And, he gives us a glimpse into how God uses all things to shape us to know and love him more.
Do You What You Want Or What You Need?
Great executives and consultants are tasked with designing solutions for their customers that will serve their needs–regardless of what people say they want. Steve Jobs said, “Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, ‘If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!' People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.”
God is the ultimate expert of what we need, and He uses what we want to show us those things. God is sovereign which means He is in complete control of everything. God also gives us free will which means He is able to use our best decisions and motives to give us what we need. However, He is also able to use our worst decisions and motives to give us what we need.
The Bible is full of verses that make His will for our lives clear. Through His Word, God gives us the opportunity to know His will and follow Him.
Like these verses from the book of Jeremiah:
- The Curse
This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives." -Jeremiah 17:5-6 - The Blessing
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. -Jeremiah 17:7-8
Cause and Effect? Not Exactly.
Many of us who trust God don’t have any trouble with verses like these. If we do the wrong thing we understand that we will likely suffer the consequences of our actions, and God will use them to discipline us and turn us back to Himself.
But, as humans we often want the relationship of cause and effect to be consistent. However, if we look around we see people doing evil things who don’t appear to be suffering, and we see people doing the right things yet sometimes suffering unimaginable griefs. So we wonder, why would a good God allow these inconsistencies? Job was a model of doing the right thing and yet went through incredible suffering. Joseph did the right thing by not giving into Potiphar’s wife, but was still thrown in prison and suffered (Genesis 39). Stephen was faithful to serve, even faithful to point out God’s word against the opposing religious forces, yet He was still stoned to death (Acts 6 and 7). If God allowed His own Son to suffer for our sake (1 Corinthians 5:21) how can we as followers of Christ expect different results (John 15:20)?
The Difference Is Fruit
While we may not prosper in all the ways we might hope, God uses our faithfulness and connectedness to Jesus to bear fruit.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. -John 15:5-8
Jesus goes on to describe fruit as others knowing God, following His commands, and loving others as He first loved us. So, while we may suffer, we will see the results of our attempts to be faithful will teach others to know Jesus.
The Prize Is Christ
The Bible shows us that the sovereignty and providence of God cannot be defined in any human discernible pattern. Yet, we know that God corrects the poor decisions of those He loves though suffering–leading them to humble reliance on His Son, Jesus. We also know that sometimes God allows our best decisions to result in suffering leading us to deeper humility, understanding, love, and reliance on Christ. If we are a child of God, He uses our best and worst decisions to draw us to Himself. The Apostle Paul says it this way, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. -Psalm 73: 25-28