God's Goodness
Some things in my faith come easier for me than others. Like, I have very little problem believing that my salvation is eternally secure by Jesus. It's easy for me to believe that God created everything from nothing, and that He is completely sovereign. I have total faith that Jesus rose from the dead, ascended to heaven and is coming back to establish His Kingdom once and for all. Serving others...no problem. Many of the things I easily believe are about the "greatness" of God (creation, sovereignty, power, omniscience, omnipotent, omnipresent, etc.).
To be honest, the things that I struggle believing are things about the "goodness" of God. Before you go freaking out, I'm not saying that I don't believe God is good. What I'm saying is that He is great in all that He does cosmically, and He is good in what He does for us personally...at least that's how I'm defining it for this devotional.
In today's passage, it's all about God's "goodness". Time to challenge myself.
[5] And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, [6] for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; [7] and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? [8] I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
(Luke 11:5-8 ESV)
This is one of those parables that you have to read through a couple of times because of the way it is laid out. It's also important to get some context. This is immediately following Jesus telling His disciples how to pray (The Lord's Prayer), and immediately before Him saying, "ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." With that in mind, let's chat.
We have awesome neighbors. We hang out, play golf, share condiments, stand out front and discuss the problems with the neighborhood, you know, neighbor stuff. Just the other morning, we borrowed coffee creamer from them, which is basically the same as asking them if they have life to let us borrow for the day. Coffee...mmm. Anyways, they were happy to give it, like most of us would be. Even if we would have asked them super early in the morning, or really late at night, they would have lent us the creamer.
In Jesus' day, whole families would have been sleeping in one room in a studio of sorts, so going to get bread at midnight wouldn't have been the ideal situation. You would likely wake up the whole house when you knock. It would be pretty frustrating to be sleeping and have somebody knocking on your door. The parable asks the question, would any of you not give bread to the man asking? Even though, it may be frustrating in the moment, because of our pride and brassiness, we would get up and give them bread...even if it were frustrating.
This is a lesson in prayer. God wants us to come to him at the most inconvenient times. He wants us to bother him. He's not sleeping. He's not waking up begrudgingly to give us bread. He's not worried about you waking up the family. God wants our persistence in prayer. He wants us to keep asking not because he will change, but so that in the midst of our dependence on Him, we will change.
This passage and the one following it is often hijacked to say that, "if you want it, God must give it to you." Totally not what it means.
First off, notice the man is asking for bread for a man that's just arrived from a long journey. It's not some self serving thing he's asking for. He's not like, neighbor, can I have your gold plated Benz.
Secondly, his willingness to ask for something as simple as bread shows his humility. That would be the same as us asking for...well, bread. It's simply something for survival. It's something that God promises us He will provide for us.
What this passage means is that God's goodness is as big as his greatness. He will take care of His children. He wants us to ask Him for the small things. He wants us to stay persistent in prayer. He wants us to change and begin to desire His will.
My problem? My problem is believing that He will answer my prayers. It's crazy because He does it all the time. It's downright disrespectful for me not to believe He will answer my prayers, but it's still a struggle. This end of this passage is so clear...if a neighbor who is evil, will begrudgingly give you what you ask for, how much more will God who is good give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?
God is good you guys. He wants you to ask. He wants you to seek Him. And in the midst of that, He wants to give you the desires of your heart because He put them there. Preaching to the choir, right now.
Anybody have a hard time believing that God will answer your prayers? Think back over the last few years. Search areas that God has answered your prayers. I guarantee you'll find some. If you haven't been praying, start today. He's a great God. And the only thing that can match His greatness is his goodness. Start praying for Him to show you that.
- Charlie Garrison
This is a lesson in prayer. God wants us to come to him at the most inconvenient times. He wants us to bother him. He's not sleeping. He's not waking up begrudgingly to give us bread. He's not worried about you waking up the family. God wants our persistence in prayer. He wants us to keep asking not because he will change, but so that in the midst of our dependence on Him, we will change.
This passage and the one following it is often hijacked to say that, "if you want it, God must give it to you." Totally not what it means.
First off, notice the man is asking for bread for a man that's just arrived from a long journey. It's not some self serving thing he's asking for. He's not like, neighbor, can I have your gold plated Benz.
Secondly, his willingness to ask for something as simple as bread shows his humility. That would be the same as us asking for...well, bread. It's simply something for survival. It's something that God promises us He will provide for us.
What this passage means is that God's goodness is as big as his greatness. He will take care of His children. He wants us to ask Him for the small things. He wants us to stay persistent in prayer. He wants us to change and begin to desire His will.
My problem? My problem is believing that He will answer my prayers. It's crazy because He does it all the time. It's downright disrespectful for me not to believe He will answer my prayers, but it's still a struggle. This end of this passage is so clear...if a neighbor who is evil, will begrudgingly give you what you ask for, how much more will God who is good give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?
God is good you guys. He wants you to ask. He wants you to seek Him. And in the midst of that, He wants to give you the desires of your heart because He put them there. Preaching to the choir, right now.
Anybody have a hard time believing that God will answer your prayers? Think back over the last few years. Search areas that God has answered your prayers. I guarantee you'll find some. If you haven't been praying, start today. He's a great God. And the only thing that can match His greatness is his goodness. Start praying for Him to show you that.
- Charlie Garrison
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