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As we sing glory to God, in adoration and praise, for His incomparable goodness, may He continue to speak into our lives, as we hear His voice through His promised word – … those who seek the Lord shall lack no good thing. [Psalms 34:10] It is by His salvation that you experience the goodness of God in your life. Salvation has many dimensions to it, one of which is, being transferred from the bondage of darkness, that is disorder and chaos to the light of the Kingdom of the Son, in whom you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. [Colossians 1:14,15]
From darkness to light:
Darkness was removed in the creation of the world in the beginning, by the light that God spoke into it, to bring order and what was good in His sight. And in new creation, He has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ. [2 Corinthians 4:6] He is the true light that enlightens any man, bringing a divine order, in you, that comes with knowledge of the glory of God.
The God of peace brings divine order:
May the God of peace Himself, sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit, soul, and body, be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. [1 Thessalonians 5:23,24] With your spirit – you connect with God. With your soul – you connect with your ‘self’, your identity. With your body – you connect with the physical world. The revelation from God comes to you through the Holy Spirit, and the divine order begins to operate in you, as in your spirit, you are led by the Spirit of God. And, those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. [Romans 8:4] What can be gleaned from it, is that when you are a son or daughter of God, you are led by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit Himself bears witness, testifies in your spirit, that you are a child of God, produces in you the character, of the child of God, to be conformed to the image of Christ.
Led by the Spirit of God:
And when you are a child of God, you are led by Him, to experience His goodness, as you are led by His Spirit, along still waters, green pastures, paths of righteousness, for His Name’s sake. He will hold you by His right hand to lead you, in the path that you need to take. And what you need to bear in mind is very simple – What He gives you, your gifts, talents, and opportunities must be used, not buried in the ground, but your dependency needs to be on Him, or else, it can all disintegrate, and go wrong.
1] Depending on sense knowledge alone:
Your senses are given to you by God. But depending on them alone in your Christian walk will be incomplete, for Christian life is about walking by faith, and not by sight.
My Redeemer lives:
Job amid severe, unforeseen calamities, was able to declare his faith in a Living Redeemer, though his senses proclaimed otherwise, that he would see Him, in his flesh, when he was alive on earth. [Job 19:26] And ultimately, he saw what he believed, and his latter days were more glorious than his former.
Seeing the goodness of God on earth:
Yet, I remain confident of this; I will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. [Psalms 27:13] The psalmist in his words above declares his faith, in believing what the Lord was going to accomplish, that he would experience the goodness of God in his life on earth. May it be your declaration too. And He who did not spare His own son, but gave Him up for us all, will He not together with Him, give us all things? [Romans 8:32] Therefore, do not limit yourself to sense knowledge alone.
2] Depending on reason alone:
Reasoning is good; it is an ability given to you, by God. But it is when you depend on it alone, as modern philosophy tends to do, that things can go wrong. For, reason needs to be complemented with revelation from the Spirit of God. It is seen in the life of the lady, who was facing the dire prospect of her sons being taken captive, as payment for debts that her husband had left behind approaching the prophet Elisha, for counsel and help. Elisha in asking what she had as a resource, was not disregarding reason. But he added the revelation of God to lead her to the place of not only having her debts repaid but also a surplus to live on, for the rest of her life. Indeed, as you depend on Him, God can abundantly satisfy your needs, whether you have a little or a lot. His grace brings light into your situation, no matter the nature of your requirement! [2 Kings 4:1-7]
3] Depending on experience alone:
It can lead to being deceived, however experienced you may be, to see you end up getting entangled in a seemingly never-ending problem, because of depending on your reason alone. It is what happened in the life of Joshua, experienced as he was, being an understudy of Moses for many years. Yet, depending on what his senses were showing him, he did not reach out to a dependency on God and paid a terrible price for it. [Joshua chapter 9] It teaches you and me to lean and depend on God, praying unto Him that His thoughts, may become our thoughts. Psalm 23, could be something very familiar. But it will bring tears to your eyes, when it has become your life’s experience, to be able to confidently say – Surely goodness and mercy will follow me, all the days of my life. [Psalms 23:6]
4] Depending on emotions alone:
Feelings and emotions are God-given, good, and right when used rightly. But they are incomplete and do not give you the full story, when you depend only on them, without depending on God, who alone is the All-knowing One.
5] Depending on circumstance alone:
It is what King Saul did in offering the sacrifice without waiting for the prophet Samuel to arrive, as he had been earlier instructed. He thought the circumstance demanded it, the people were getting restless. [1 Samuel 11:11-13] But Samuel, on arriving said that he had done a foolish thing. In any circumstance, inviting the presence and counsel of God in prayer is of primary importance. [Jeremiah 33:3] And when you have God on your side, you will never go wrong.
6] Led by the devil:
This is a sad and very extreme position, but it can happen to anyone when though you are a child of God, you begin to think from a very human point of view and take it to its logical conclusion. It is what Peter did when he counseled the Lord against going to the Cross, and the Lord had to rebuke him so very harshly. [Matthew 16:23] It teaches you that being a child of God, you need to look beyond the natural, for God to help you and lead you.
7] And the Lord’s example:
God never asks you to do, what He has not done Himself. And in the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, the Lord shows very clearly, how your dependency needs to operate. The Lord, acknowledged the reasonable arguments put forward by the disciples, from a human point of view. He had a feeling of compassion, that led to Him to not wanting to send the people away hungry. And knowing it all, and knowing what He was going to do, He depended on the Father, praying unto Him, with thanksgiving, that the little in His hand, would miraculously satisfy the need of the people. [Matthew 14:13-21]
Led by the Spirit of God:
Those who are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God; and the Son of God Himself is the example showing the path to using our reason, emotion, circumstance, knowledge of the senses, and yet depending on the Father, from whom all good things flow. May He have His way in you; cause His thoughts to align with your thoughts, that you may confidently proclaim – Surely I will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
