Trusting the Lord in Plenty and in Pain – Proverbs chapter 3, verses 9 to 12
Trusting the Lord in Plenty and in Pain – He calls us to this as something vital.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Proverbs 3:5
and lean not on your own understanding;
Yet we tend to do this only when our earthly props break. Even when it doesn’t make sense to trust. When we cry “Why Lord?”
Trusting the Lord in Plenty
Honour the Lord with your wealth,
Proverbs 3:9-10
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.
How? In the old testament “first fruits” was the best, the first pick, a token of all, which God owns. It’s so easy to think things belong to us, and we get first pick. As Christians we are to glorify God with our bodies, ie, all that is part of life. This is the exact opposite of thinking “God, why are you taking from MY piggy bank?”
Our standard now is not tithe, the 1/10th that the ancient Israelites were to give, but rather God’s gift to us. It is a heart issue, “My son, give me your heart” (Proverbs 23:26)
“Then you barns will be filled….” – this is not a prosperity gospel. Rather it is that we can trust God with our money, our gifts.
Trusting the Lord in Pain
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
Proverbs 3:11-12
and do not resent his rebuke,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.
God is a Father. He loves to give good gifts to his children. He disciplines, and he loves – we must never separate them. Never despise, nor resent, his discipline. We have this reinforced in Hebrews 12:5-11. Human father’s are imperfect, but God always knows what is best, for our good. He allows sorrows, sickness, suffering, for our good that we may share in his holiness.
How do we deal with these? By humbly trusting in God’s love, power and care for us. Your moments of trial are not wasted.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
Job 1:20
may the name of the Lord be praised.’
