Daily Devotional

This I write after the memorial service for Hanna York. Why was there no physical healing? Perhaps the Lord wanted her with Him in heaven! Perhaps the Lord will have unbelievable blessings for Daniel and the girls! But there were so many prayers! Did the Lord not care?

While we wonder at the many prayers seemingly unheeded, we might also remember hundreds, maybe thousands of prayers answered for her during all her turmoil. Answered for her family. How many times did God show her His care, His love, His special place for her in His heart? How many times was aid, blessing and help supplied during her trials? How many times did she express how greatly the Lord was working in her? There was no doubt of God’s care and love for her!

When Adam & Eve sinned, God did not fix it all. But He did make garments of skin to clothe them. (Genesis 3:21). He was there. He served them. They were driven out of the Garden, but not out of God’s purposes, nor His special attention. So Psalm 103 tells us not to forget God’s benefits, no matter what!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
 Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Psalm 103:1-5 (NASB)

While there are things God does not do that we hope for, there are hundreds of things He does do for us, over and over! He pardons sins. He heals diseases. He redeems our lives from the pit. In my case pretty often. He crowns us with lovingkindness and compassion. He satisfies our years with good things. He renews our youth like the eagle’s. Hallelujah!
 
What He does not do is everything we want!

No one tells God what to do! No one demands anything. Even rescue from death when we want it. So we are called to trust His judgment. To receive His love. Cooperate with His bigger picture. Know again that He created all things for His holy purposes. Period. We each are a momentary “blip” on the screen of thousands of years of God’s work, expressed from Genesis to Revelation, by Him who is from everlasting to everlasting. Eternal.

So we rejoice when He tells us He is with us! For us! Always leads us in the path of life! He loves us. He has a plan for each one. So we put our faith in Him, past what little we can see and know. We abide in Him as a branch abides in the vine. There we experience abundant life and joy, bear much fruit and prove to be His disciples. And we keep right on praying for what we need, and do not stop. He is our Provider & Protector.

And we will continue to know His special care for us, over and over, even as Adam & Eve did after their disastrous fall. Before He sent them out of the Garden, He made clothes for them! What multiplied wonders will God do for us as we walk with Him through our short years on earth?

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits!

Read: John 15:1-11, 2 Timothy 4:20, 1 Timothy 5:23
Sing: God Leads Us Along, by G. A. Young

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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