Today I am pleased to share with you a blog post that my husband has written for our church blog. I hope you enjoy his perspective and thoughts. Before you read on, let me ask you one question.....How is your 40 day prayer challenge going? Prayer is designed to help us align our hearts with God. I am excited about the things happening here in our local church, I hope your 40 day challenge is going well and that God is using you to bring Him glory in your congregation! Enjoy the post.
Romans
8:31
31 What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?
A few weeks ago, I was cutting the grass at our home. To me,
cutting the grass is a mindless job that gives me around 3 hours of thinking
and praying time. This particular day, I began to think about some
conversations that I recently had with a friend of mine. As I thought about
some of the things that this friend said, I started to feel like my friend was just
waiting for people to make mistakes. It was like my friend wanted to catch them
making those mistakes. It began to feel to me like my friend was not for these
people but rather against them.
Now I have learned through the years that God usually brings
events like this to my attention to show me my own actions. This time, God
began to show me that there are times when I parent the same way my friend is
acting. How often do my kids get the feeling that I’m just waiting for them to
make a mistake so that I can discipline them. At times, I have even created an
atmosphere in our home where finding their mistakes seemed like the goal.
Why am I sharing this with you today? First of all, I want my
kids to know that my goal is always to help them make good choices. How much
different would life be if my kids thought that I was for them, that I always
want them to succeed? As we grow, we will quite often relate our relationship
with our parents to our relationship with God. How much different would life be
if we believed that God was for us and always wants what is best for us? Now
let me make one thing clear, being for my kids does NOT mean that I just look
the other way when they make mistakes. I love my kids, and that means that I try
to use their mistakes as teaching moments and try to teach my kids to make
better choices. I want my kids to understand that I have their best interest in
mind. I’m not against them, I’m for
them.
In the same way, we need to remember that God is not against
us, He is for us. Why would He have His One and Only Son die for people who He
is against? Instead, God is the One “who wants all people to be saved and to
come to a knowledge of the truth.” He uses mistakes that we make to help teach
us and change us because He knows that going down a different path will hurt
us. When you love someone you don’t want to see them make choices that you know
will eventually hurt them. God loves you, wants what is best for you, and
always has your best interests in mind. He is not hovering over us waiting for
us to make a mistake! He is walking with us, gently leading us and calling to
us to follow His ways.
