The LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.' - 1 Sam 2:30
O Sovereign Lord,
We know that you alone are good.
We know that all good things come from you.
You love us unconditionally.
But You have given us the divine gift of free will. We have the freedom to accept You or reject You. You will not force our hand.
When we feel that You are not with us, or that You do not care for us, we are only deceiving ourselves, for You are always with us.
But we will only recognize Your love to the degree that we open our hands to receive it.
You tell us that what we ask for we shall receive, and what we seek we shall find. Why do we doubt the truth of Your Word?
When we honor You, You will mirror our desires back to us by showing us honor. You will reveal yourself more deeply to us. You will disclose your secrets to our innermost parts.
But when we reject You, You will again give us what we ask for. From our limited perspective, it appears as if You have pulled away from us. But the truth is that we have exalted our desires above Yours. We have positioned our human opinions above Your Divine Will.
For those who love You, all things work together for good. Who are we to despise a situation that, from our perspective seems futile, but from Yours is simply the way by which Your Glory will be revealed to us?
Humble us Father. Give us the grace to accept what Your providence provides us. You can see the whole script while we see only what is in front of our eyes. Let us not seek to grasp at your love, but rather let us surrender to it and be encompassed by it.
In Jesus' name we pray,
Amen.
Give, and it will be given to you.
A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over,
will be poured into your lap.
For with the measure you use,
it will be measured to you.”
Luke 6:38
OK, these posts always make me think.... Interesting that you shared the Luke passage. I believe that it is often misunderstood. So...... I had to look up the context and I was really helped by the AMP version:
37 “[l]Do not judge [others self-righteously], and you will not be judged; do not condemn [others when you are guilty and unrepentant], and you will not be condemned [for your hypocrisy]; pardon [others when they truly repent and change], and you will be pardoned [when you truly repent and change]. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with…