SONG OF SOLOMON - Lent Devotional
Some people take a lifetime to learn the truth about God’s love. Some people never wake up to the fact that we’re in need of rescue, that we can’t make it on our own, and that God alone can save us.
But for those that begin to figure it out, the implications are immense, as Paul describes it here:
‘I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.’
[Philippians 4:12-13]
Thought:
Do you think it was easy for Paul to learn to be “content whatever the circumstances”?
No, me neither. It’s not a natural fit for us. Admitting that we’re essentially weak and powerless goes painfully against the grain. We are survivors. We are scrappers. We are the kind of beings who are hard wired to look out for ourselves.
But we are also children of a loving, caring God. We are loved. We are protected and nurtured and led into a world we know too little about to fully comprehend.
This is not a lesson we only have to learn once. It is a constant within our lives. These two truths often result in friction – a friction which, among other things, can leave us feeling discontent, whether we’re in a time of feast or famine.
We can be resistant to being rescued much as we can be resistant to having to deal with a life that fails to match up to our expectations.
Invitation:
That tension is good. So too is that niggling feeling that something’s not quite the way it should be. The knowledge that God has more for us, that He’s calling us to go deeper with Him, can be a powerful motivator.
God’s invitation is clear – we are called to follow Him – but the ways in which He leads us are as many as the mountains and valleys that line the earth.
And this is perhaps the hardest truth of all for us to learn: that God can use any circumstance to draw us closer to Him.
Over the mountains, over the seas. All through the valleys, through the dark of night. Here He comes, running to hold us til it’s light.
Prayer:
Are you feeling restless? That’s good. Do you feel dissatisfied with where you are with God? That’s good too. Are you willing to let Him draw you closer in whatever way He deems fit? That’s a bold prayer to pray… and it’s the kind that changes lives.