-- Friday, 8/5/11 -- WHY NOT, LORD? - Matthew 7:9-11
J.R. & Bonnie Ricks
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WHY NOT, LORD? – Matthew 7:9-11
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
In this passage, Jesus tells us that God won’t give us bad gifts when we ask for good ones. But what about those times when – after we’ve fulfilled God’s conditions for His promise - we ask for something that seems to be good… in fact, it seems to be exactly what we need… and God says, “No”? Doesn’t this scripture tell us that He will give us good gifts? Absolutely! But the key word is good gifts.
Have you ever heard the saying, “still water runs deep”? That saying comes from the fact that it’s impossible to tell how deep a pool of still water is just by looking at it. In fact, it can look quite shallow… and beautiful… and harmless. But a person who can’t swim could step into a beautiful, still pool and suddenly find himself drowning!
It’s just that kind of “still water” situation that God may be protecting you from when He says no to a prayer to which – by all evidence you have – you’d think He would say yes. The reason is just as this scripture says... God wants to give you good gifts. And He sees past, present and future all at the same time, so He can see any downfall or problem that might be involved in giving you what you’re asking for. He knows ahead of time what will hurt you. He can see what’s beneath that “still water”, and He says no.
If this happens to you… If you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’ve fulfilled the conditions God placed on His promise… and you’ve prayed for something that you believe is within God’s will, but that something never comes through… then praise Him for loving you enough to say no.
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God bless you all!
All Bible quotes contained in these devotionals are from the New International Version 1984 (NIV1984), unless otherwise specified.
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