Promises, promises

Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

One of the problems that has faced the church over the years is the way it has become a sectarian divided body. Such division is often exacerbated by one element claiming a divine right by saying that God is on our side over and above another. If any church holds such a view there is simply, in the words of J B Phillips, a fact that “your God is too small!”

The shield of God is far bigger than our finite minds can comprehend. Imagine you are holding a  box. For some people, what they think of God could fit in this box. They have few expectations and limited knowledge of who God is. Many people would be comfortable with having a God who could fit in this box. Of course there are many things that would have to be left out. But that is satisfactory with people whose God is no bigger than this. 

In such a box there may be room for love and grace and mercy, but not much room for any rules or commands that interfere with the way one wants to live their life. Even if it were the biggest of all it may hold something of God's love, mercy and grace as well as the commands of scripture. But there is still something missing. That's because our God is bigger than any box we might put Him in. God wants out of the box, out of any box we try to put Him in. He doesn't fit there. He will not conveniently confine Himself to our limits, our boundaries. God is bigger than our box.

But, in His  incomprehensible ‘Bigness’ we are shielded and guided and enabled to discover the goodness of God bestowed upon us.

In another of Charles Wesley’s hymn we find that we cannot envelope God but that we are lost in him.

May we pray

Finish, then, Thy new creation;

  Pure and spotless let us be;

Let us see Thy great salvation

  Perfectly restored in Thee;

Changed from glory into glory

  Till with Thee we take our place,

Till we cast our crowns before Thee,

  Lost in wonder, love and praise.

God’s promises about being with us

Hold onto these promises that God is with you in your individual situation. Remember the time in the Bible when God gave Noah a rainbow as a sign that God keeps his promises. As He was faithful to Noah, He will be faithful to you.

Why not share these Bible verses about God’s faithfulness with a friend who needs encouragement.