Mirages

Everyday we are so often wake up and wonder what the day will bring us. Will this be a good day or a bad one?

Will we be blessed by God this morning in the sermon we hear at church? Is that God speaking directly to us?

Or will it be a life altering event that comes out of nowhere and completely blindsides us when we aren't expecting it?

What will our response be? What will yours be?

Will you be bitter all day because those things aren't what you expected today? Or will you be better because we know where our faith lies today, in the One who sees everything that happens and has a plan for us?

Sometimes we never see the good when it is right in front of us. Do you ever notice that? We always want more when we already have enough. Yet we aren't content with that.

We have a place to live, food to eat, clothes that will last for awhile, a job to keep us living day to day, but we want just a little bit more. A better job, more money, nicer home, better clothes, a new phone with the latest gadgets, a longer or better vacation. Why? Why are we happy with what we have if its simply enough to get us through the days?

We have the enemy to thank for that. The enemy who seeks to steal, kill and destroy us. To break us from our faith and trust in God.

He creates that mirage and we are the thirsty people living in the desert, searching desperately for water, while the hot, blazing, never ending sun, continues to beat down relentlessly upon on bodies. Hill after hill of hot, gritty sand makes each step harder than the one before it.

Until we see that oasis filled with lush, green palms offering shade from the heat, surrounded by a turquoise blue lagoon. We pick up what energy we have and run full speed ahead gaining ground until we realize that the more we run, the further the oasis continues to appear. Finally when we rub our eyes and refocus, we realize it wasn't really there after all.

That's where the stuff of life has a tendency to trap us. See when life is going along great, and you are getting things your way, a perfect job, a perfect family, great house, loads of friends, financial stability, you forget God. This is the very reason that God had the Israelites running around the desert for 40 years. If they weren't going to obey God then, why would they obey God when He brought them into the promised land?

We forget, that our time here on Earth is supposed to be spent finding ways to use our lives to glorify God. Here's the perfect example and see if this doesn't hurt as much as it did me.

We always think that if we had a million dollars or won the lottery that we would do so much for the church right? We'd help starving children in third world countries, sponsor more missionaries to go forth preaching the gospel? We donate to homeless and battered womens shelters right?

So why aren't you doing that right now with what you do have?

Ouch! Did that one sting a bit? I know for me it did, because I am always saying that. We are so focused on what we don't have and wanting more, we are missing out on what is really going on inside us. These wants, do they glorify God or is it just about us or ourselves?
Remember that the stuff we desire in life, those extra things outside our daily provisions from God will NEVER satisfy us. Only God can.

When God blesses you and your life in abundance, remember one thing, don't forget about God.

Nahum 1:7 ~ "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble."

Remember God in all things and let everything we do glorify Him and HIM alone!