No Good Thing Does He Withhold

There are many proverbs and sayings about the consequences of our actions. They range from “What goes around comes around,” to “You reap what you sow,” to “Sometimes bad things happen to good people.” The interesting thing is, the saying we agree with often depends entirely on what we are going through in life. For example, after receiving a promotion at work, or an award for a job well done, it would be typical to respond with the mindset that you have earned this and deserve the recognition. On the other hand, finding out that your mom has cancer, or that you have lost your job often elicits the opposite response. You may question, “What did I do to deserve this? Why is this happening to me?”

The question regarding why God lets bad things, even terrible, earth-shattering things happen to people who are faithful to Him has challenged me for years. In Psalm 84:11 it states, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” I came across this verse several months ago, to which I responded with, “WHAT? I don’t understand. If God does not withhold anything good from those who are faithful to Him, then why isn’t my life going better? Why am I facing so much stress? Why do I feel so lonely? Why haven’t I received the things that I feel I have earned? It sure seems like He is holding out on me!”

Accepting that the Bible is wholly true (regardless of whether or not I understand it), I decided to further examine this verse. Upon examination, I found two issues with my understanding: 1.) My definition of “good,” and 2.) My degree of “blamelessness,” or “faithfulness.”

According to my previous understanding of this verse, a “good thing” was a blessing. To me, I viewed it as seeing the fruition of my hard work. If I was faithful to God and worked really hard, I would earn the things I desired. While this can be true sometimes, this is NOT what the verse means. Rather, a good thing in this context denotes something that is good FOR us. As the Lord is the one giving the good, it is HIS definition of “good,” not ours, that is the gift being given. In other words, what I may see as good or deserved is not necessarily the same as what God sees as beneficial to me.

Secondly, I struggled with the concept of blamelessness. Other translations also refer to this as “faithfulness” or “being upright.” For the most part, I thought I had done a pretty good job of living according to God’s Word. I had genuinely tried to live a life that was pleasing to God, and tried to follow the guiding of the Holy Spirit. However, the words “blameless,” “faithful,” or “upright” have a much higher degree of sincerity than I had picked up on in my initial reading. To be faithful isn’t just to try and live a life that honors God. It is to constantly be seeking His direction, and continuously following His will.

Reading this verse again with a new understanding of these definitions, my perception shifted dramatically. Again, it states, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” This verse doesn’t indicate a perfect life. It doesn’t promise fulfillment of personal desires, or protection from pain. It doesn’t mean God is always going to bless us for doing what we believe is right. However, there is a deeper promise interwoven throughout this verse. The promise is that when we choose to allow God to guide our lives and follow His will, He will give us what He believes is in our best interest. Unfortunately, actually understanding God’s definition of what is good for us is often far beyond human comprehension. Nevertheless, I will gladly put my faith and efforts into serving a God who knows more than I ever could possibly know about myself. I will eagerly choose to seek God’s will rather than my own, because His ways are better. While I may not always understand it, I will gratefully accept the promise that God will NOT withhold anything that He defines as good from me.

If you are struggling to find the goodness in your life, I encourage you to examine this verse. Maybe you need to reevaluate your intentions. Are your actions self-seeking, or God-focused? Or perhaps you need to shift your understanding of a “good thing.” Do you see good things as satisfaction of the pleasures you crave, or the fulfillment of your best interest? Wherever you’re at, take heart in the fact that God cares about you deeply. Whether you realize it or not, He wholeheartedly wants what is best for you. Furthermore, He will bless you and “withhold no good thing” when you earnestly follow His will. 

Until next time,

Tamara

What Does God Think of Gay Marriage?

A political war is waging across America this week. Ready or not, each of us is now forced to face the decision of whether we support or oppose the latest ruling regarding gay marriage. For the majority, there are strong emotions tied to this action. What is so fascinating to me about this entire debate though, is the fact that the two groups creating the biggest feud preach some of the same things.

The Christians, although they oppose the ruling, preach the importance of love. The goal of Christianity is to become more like Christ, and to become like Christ is to be without sin. To be pure, to be holy, and to be upright, we must learn to love like Christ. Christ’s love is without conditions, without limits, without gratification, and without an end.

On the other end of the dispute are those who preach tolerance and acceptance. They believe in giving everyone a choice as to how they live their lives. They believe in loving others without strings attached. They believe in supporting the actions of others.

To see both sides of the spectrum with an unbiased approach, it becomes clear that the groups share a common ideal. At the core of the matter, each group desires to show love and kindness to those around them. So what is the big difference, and why is it such a big deal? And what does God think of gay marriage, anyway?

The difference is actually quite simple. While the tolerant group argues to take each person as they are, they are, thus, supporting humanity and its fragility.

On the other hand, the Christian perspective seeks restoration for a broken people. Homosexuality, among all other sin, is something that takes us further away from God. As Romans 3:23 states, we have all fallen short of the glory of God. So while, yes, homosexuality is sinful, there is a greater issue at hand. Unlike the tolerant perspective, the Christian perspective supports a complete shedding of self, and adoption of new morals and standards that are like Christ.

Unfortunately, our country is drifting further and further from Biblically moral standards, and has opted to “create” its own instead.

I truly believe it hurts God to see a culture that is aggressively seeking to provide a gateway to sin (such as this new ruling). However, I think He is also saddened by the fact that we (those of us who are Christians) can become so caught up in the politics that we forget the very nature of God.

God is unconditionally loving, and unconditionally forgiving. He has chosen to love each one of us despite each and every flaw we have. More than anything, He wants us all to find restoration. So perhaps some of us need a reminder of that. We were not born without out sin. Homosexual or not, we all fall short of God’s glory. Likewise, we are absolutely supposed to love the gay community in spite of their sin. God does!

However, we can’t ignore the difference between the two groups. While I believe tolerant people genuinely are very loving, there is danger in their plea. To choose acceptance is to give way to our sinful nature. In doing so, morality becomes foggy and chaos is unleashed. People become their own lords, and freedom from sin drifts further away from our reach.

Therefore, we must all decide. First, we must choose whether to love people unconditionally, or to set parameters on our love. Secondly, we must choose our level of contentment. Do we accept ourselves, our society, and our culture in their current state? Or do we seek to be greater? Do we seek to resemble the nature of Christ, or do we seek to satisfy our own nature?

Until next time,

Tamara

Dreams and Defeat

Have you ever felt like you’ve been given a front row seat to your own defeat? Unpleasant as that may sound, I think it’s something most of us can relate to on some level. In times of discouragement, we are quick to lose our sense of control. We begin to feel trapped, like helpless bystanders watching our beloved dreams unravel.

Now that I’ve set the peppy tone, let’s get real about facing defeat. As humans, we thrive on happiness, success, and fulfillment. We develop goals, aspirations and dreams that help us to grow. We set expectations, we work hard, and we bear the fruit of our actions. Right?  

But sometimes it doesn’t feel like that. There are times when our hard work displays no results. There are times when our elaborate dreams may hit a dead end. There are instances when we are left feeling unsatisfied, unfulfilled, and overlooked. These feelings are real, and may seem completely justified. After all, God gave us the ability to pursue our dreams, so why would he let us fail?

Truthfully, we may never know the answer to why we face such trials and failures. Sometimes there may be a lesson to be learned, and other times our dreams may not have our best interest in mind. Unfortunately, our limited scope of knowledge hinders us from fully understanding the big picture. However, we can take comfort in the fact that God has promised to remain faithful to those who have been faithful to Him. As Psalm 84: 11 states,

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
 the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

This verse has been an interesting one for me. My initial interpretation was that if I am working towards a worthy goal with righteous intentions, then nothing should stand in my way from attaining it. However, that’s not quite accurate. Although my goal may be pure and my actions may be blameless, that doesn’t make it “good.” You see, where I fell short in my interpretation was understanding what “good” really meant. Good is not what humans see as just. Good is not something (we feel) we’ve earned. Rather, good is what is most beneficial. Good is what is right. Good is God’s will. While humans have a limited point of view and lack foresight, God sees a greater picture.

There have been so many occasions in my life where I wanted something so bad but didn’t get it. Looking back years later, I can honestly say some of my desires that seemed pure were not actually what was best for me. It’s so important that we learn to trust God to be faithful. I would like to encourage anyone who is feeling disheartened at this time. God sees you. He knows your heart, and He loves you more than you will ever comprehend. However, our fulfillment and happiness cannot be dependent on our dreams coming to fruition. Rather, we must find fulfillment in God. He is faithful, and He knows what is best for us.

No good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Until next time,

Tamara

What 19 Years of Singleness Has Taught Me

Yes, you read that correctly. For the past 19 (almost 20) years of my life, I have been single. There have been phases of my life where I’ve been embarrassed, unhappy, or confused by this. I grew up in church, so as you may imagine, I’ve heard the “God has a plan for your life” spiel more times than I can count. If I were to be honest with you though, I think 19 years of singleness was exactly God’s plan for me. As I went through high school watching many friends of mine get into relationships (some good, some bad) I spent my time on the sidelines waiting for my time to come. I never really held the belief that a guy would complete me, but I just figured if God gave me this desire He might as well fulfill it! Little did I know, God had much more than happiness and romance in store for me in my teen years.

None of what God had planned, however, could take effect until I let go of my own plan. I struggled with bitterness and jealousy as I waited on God. I thought I was ready. I KNEW I was ready. After all, I had all the facts. “Relationships don’t complete me, God does. Relationships take work. My confidence and purpose is found in Christ, not the opinion of others, etc.” I prayed, “God, I got this! What are you waiting for?” As my heart became hardened throughout this process, God began to convict me. I felt He was saying, “Do you not trust me? Child, I have amazing plans for your life. I want to bless you, and use you to change the world, but I can’t do this without you.”

I’d like to tell you that immediately upon conviction, I changed my course of action and fully surrendered to God. However it took a little growing up and a small taste of “my plan” to show me that I need God, and that HIS plan is PERFECT.  Long story short, I started to fall for a guy that was completely wrong for me. Although we didn’t end up dating, I realized right before jumping the gun that I had no idea what I was doing. After this bumpy patch in my life, I decided it was time to admit I actually don’t know what’s best for me.

Since then, I have surrendered my plan to God’s. I have made it a habit to spend time in God’s Word and in prayer, and I have developed so much more confidence and purpose. God has used me to speak into the lives of other teen girls, and has brought wisdom into my life that I never would have developed if I had followed my own will. I don’t say these things to brag, but rather to boast in what Christ has done through me. God has actually had GREAT plans for my life, and one of them just happens to be 19 years of singleness. I don’t know what my future holds, but I know that if I follow God it will be perfect.

Until next time,

Tamara

Unconditional Love

Our society is rapidly moving towards a cultural divide of those who consider themselves to be “accepting,” and those who refer to themselves as “morally upright.” I don’t know about the rest of you, but I, for one, have grown tired of the petty arguments and persistent accusations on either side. While issues of  homosexuality, abortion, and sexism have made their way into daily conversation, it has become clear to me that those insisting upon shifting the traditional belief system to adopt a new, tolerant perspective are actually making a very important statement that we must not ignore.

As issues of morality often play a role in these arguments, I am not suggesting a sacrifice of what is considered biblically “upright.” Rather, I think it’s time to stop getting so consumed with pointing fingers of what is and isn’t right, and start to look at the real issue of why people are so adamant about “accepting them.”  Are they just pushing a political agenda, or are they seeking to be loved? Furthermore, it’s time to revisit how Jesus would, and DID act in these situations.

I love John 4 (Go check this out if you’re not familiar @ https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+4&version=NIV ) because Jesus so clearly demonstrates how to approach and interact with those whom we are quick to consider to be social “outcasts” or “tactless” in nature. In this recount, Jesus approaches a Samaritan woman who was known for having five different husbands (and now living with another man, unmarried.) Culturally, a casual conversation with her was already crossing the line. He takes it to a whole new level, however, with his response to her questioning of why He is even talking to her. He states, If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water. (John 4:10.) There are two very important things to note in this statement. 1.) He is acknowledging her value. By saying “If only you knew the gift God has for you, He’s noting that God cares deeply about her and has a gift specifically for her. 2.) Jesus is (tastefully) offering her forgiveness.

What I have learned from Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman (which is extremely relevant today) is that the attitude of pointing fingers and criticizing society is ineffective. Furthermore, it’s not Christ-like. Rather, we must choose to love people first. Love them despite moral “red flags,” and remember that Jesus loved you despite your faults. Secondly, getting caught up on the issue of acceptance needs to come to an end. While we should by no means promote things that contradict God’s word, we need to learn to see others on the same level as we see ourselves. We all fall short of the glory when it comes down to it, and Jesus loves each of us the same. In fact, He loved each of us so much that He died for us to have the opportunity of being forgiven. It is my hope that these are things we never lose sight of amidst a seemingly divided culture.

Until next time,

Tamara