First Baptist Church Midway

But God

Some thoughts on David and life in general…

Have you ever considered that David was a man after God’s own heart not because he was good? Obviously, you will have heard of his covetousness, adultery, and then murder. Surely this has made you question how David could possibly be a man after God’s own heart.

What if it wasn’t so much about the deeds and actions of the man, but more about the intentions of that man? Every time David was corrected, he got back on path and returned to his pursuit to know the heart of God. He was “after” God’s own heart.

So, God praised him and rewarded him not because he was better than any other sinner on this planet but because David knew he wasn’t and therefore sought the One who was greater than all. That pursuit delighted the Father.

David admits, in the Psalms, his love of the Lord’s commands and laws. He talks of his consistent meditation on them. He made a point of chasing after God and celebrating Him. Sure, he screwed up, because he was just a man. But that’s not able to negate the love the Father has for him.

Nor can our own failings separate us from the love of Christ if indeed we are His.

He does not kick His children out. In fact, when they demand the inheritance and run from Him, His eyes stay waiting for their return. He goes after the one sheep. Throws the prodigal a party. He fights so many demons to keep us in His love!

He doesn’t beat and abuse. He loves and heals and waits patiently for us to realize all the good has always been Him. All the rescues, all the interventions, all the good was Him. Is Him.

Our earthly parents were supposed to be portraits of the Father. Unfortunately, some of them are kin to the Pharisees and are, therefore, portraits of their father. Those portraits are designed by the enemy to prevent us from realizing the awesomeness of our true Father.

Bad parenting creates a false image of what a Father acts like and loves like.

Sadly, churches often remind us that our parents are a “portrait” of the Father, not thinking about the potential damage that can cause to a child’s understanding of Him. They miss the fact that some of us cannot feel His all-covering, totally steadfast, love because no parental unit demonstrated it to us (and probably the complete opposite was provided instead).

Therefore, God becomes the distant, if not abusive, entity that people say we’re to serve. It’s a hard thing to reconcile.
But God!

Two words that invariably alter our lives over and over again. But, God, when we choose to speak to Him in utter rawness of emotion, will speak back! Yes, through the Bible, but also within us if indeed He dwells there.

The Bible tells us that all who ask, receive, and elsewhere that we have not because we ask not, or we ask with wrong intentions.

I submit, we’re afraid to ask.

Perhaps this is because we anticipate a litany of things we must change before we can even be deemed worthy of being heard or spoken to. In truth, we in this fleshly body are not, and cannot be, worthy of ever being in the Presence of God. Only by the blood of Jesus has that chasm been bridged and even then, only for those of us willing to believe it. Though it is freely offered to all!

But, God, once you realize that He’s desirous of relationship, and you submit your will to Him, will come in and live and sup with you.

We claim to love God but treat Him like a social media “friend.” He sees the highlight reels. Or perhaps you’re one of those people and He has to see the “poor me” reel. Regardless, He gets about as much involvement in your actual life as you’re involved in the actual lives of the majority of your “friends.”

Relationship is two-sided. Both parties wish to know and be known. Yet most of us are content with, if not complacent about, the over-generalized concept that God knows everything. So, we tell Him nothing and we’re so self-absorbed, we ask Him nothing.

We want the gifts instead of the Giver and the healing instead of the Healer and the saving instead of the Savior, whenever we do ask. We use God. And He lets us because for some of us, the things we have received in this space are all we’ll ever have. For some, this earth is the only heaven.

For others of us, this earth is the only torment. We will one day walk in tearless, vehemently loved, exceptional freedoms rejoicing in and praising God our very Holy, fully love, Heavenly Father!

If you’d like to talk more about this, or anything else in life, we offer General Life and Whole Life Mentoring. Schedule an appointment! We’ll look forward to it.

By: Ginny Mink