Stay Standing

As I type, there is a daddy long legs with four inch limbs sitting on the wall and watching me.

I just thought you should know.

That has nothing to do with anything.

The other day I was flipping through my Bible and came across Numbers 23:19-

"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?" 

So many of us seem to be living on the outskirts of God's promises. He promises provision, but we lack. He promises healing, but we aren't full of health. He promises to give us the desires of our heart, yet we ache with lonliness. How can there be such a statement as the one we read in Numbers 23 when we aren't actually experiencing the fruit of God's fulfilled promises?

My mind can't comprehend all of the promises in the Bible- about 3,000, they say- so, in order to break this concept down, I picked three that basically sum up our basic needs and wants as human beings:

• He promises to heal us: "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases..." Psalm 103:1-3
• He promises to provide for us: "And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8 
• He promises to satisfy our desires: "Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4 

So, what does this mean? If we, as children of God, are not experiencing any or even all of these three things, does that mean that Numbers 23:19 was incorrect? Did God forget to mention something? "I am not a human that I should lie....mostly....except sometimes....." 

 

Then it dawned on me- this is exactly what the devil wants. He wants us to wonder "why?" and give in to doubt. He wants to shake our faith by delaying the answers to our fervent prayers in any way that he can. If he ensnares us by dwindling our faith, even in subtle ways, we begin to lose the battle.

 

So where is the hope? We're only human, after all. 

 

The disciples begged Jesus to increase their faith. And we can, too! After all, we're not fighting this battle alone. We must stand on His promises. Compromising our faith and giving in to doubt is the easiest route, but I have a feeling that it won't reap the desired results.  

 

Remember, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind." The important thing is to keep standing.