GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT
IS DUE
Despite the horrible
deaths and suffering caused by the coronavirus and the quarantines, all is not
lost. There can be some good things coming out of all this. People are turning back
to God and giving Him the credit He is due. We are saying: “God did this for me,”
and we are saying it out loud. Proverbs 3:5 tells us: “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he
shall direct thy paths.” James 1:17 says: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning.”
First, that verse
tells me that God doesn’t change His mind on giving to us. He is going to keep
giving us good gifts, even during a pandemic, even if we don’t give Him credit.
But also, the verse tells me that even though Mary Lou may be the one who gives
me the gift, the source is God. Say, for instance, she comes to my restaurant
and purchases carry out for her family, God is the one who instigated the doing
of it.
And it’s the right thing
to do, to thank Mary Lou from the bottom of my heart, but I also need to
acknowledge that it was ultimately God who sent the gift my way. We really need
to start giving God more credit when we speak of the everyday good things that
happen in our lives. We all know that there is more to our lives than what we
see in the natural. It’s time to speak about our God. King David in the Bible
is a great example of doing just that.
“I will speak of
thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed” (Ps. 119:46).
If David wasn’t embarrassed to speak of our God’s blessings before kings, why
do we hesitate to acknowledge our God in front of our family and friends? I don’t
believe we hesitate because we’re afraid, I think that maybe it just hasn’t
been our custom to speak out loud about God so much. We don’t hear it, so we
don’t say it? When I was growing up, I was told many times that religion and
politics were two subjects you didn’t talk about. It was “a personal thing.” Well,
we sure have blown that theory in recent years as far as politics are concerned,
so how about blowing it sky-high in speaking about our God too, not in the
arguing about doctrine but in openly giving Him credit for “every good and perfect
gift” coming down from Him, as it says in the Bible? How about acknowledging
Him in all our ways (giving Him credit for even the smaller good things He does
for us), as Solomon said? And God called Solomon the wisest man ever to live.
David didn’t think we should keep our feelings about God so
personal. He said: “I will declare
thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee”
(Ps. 22:22).
In Ps. 52:9, David gives God credit: “I will praise thee
for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait
on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.” And Psalm 34:1: “I will bless
the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Even the Apostle Paul asked the
believers to pray for him in this aspect of giving God credit, and saying
something about His goodness: “that
utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known
the mystery of the gospel [the good news], for which I am an ambassador in
bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph. 6:19-20). Granted,
Paul was an apostle, and he was commissioned of God to speak a lot, but each of
us can at least speak a little, right?
Let’s start remembering that every good gift comes down from
God, and let’s audibly give Him credit.
Love, Carolyn
My second edition of WINGS is finally complete. Buy a copy
today. It’ll change your life😊
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