There comes a time when we all have to look at what we can and can’t do.”
–Lou Bradshaw (Cain…Just Cain)
“For You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD shall enlighten my darkness.”
“For You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD shall enlighten my darkness.”
–2 Samuel 22:29 (NKJV)
————————————-
“And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.”
–Romans 8:28 (Amplified)
“Moreover we know that to those who love God, who are called according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good.”
–Romans 8:28 (Phillips)
The verse above is one of the most quoted in Christian circles. However, one of the problems is that far too often we do not have the right perspective. We cannot look at this verse and “claim it” when we are in dire circumstances or when catastrophe has hit. We must try to see it from God’s perspective, but that is also a problem for now we only have a glimpse, we see through a “glass darkly.”
God is infinite, so He sees everything from the beginning to the end. He is omnipresent, therefore He is already at the conclusion of the matter. Think for a moment, what that means: He is in the past, He is in the present, and He is already in the future. Our little feeble, human minds cannot comprehend the fullness of that. He is–I AM!–He declared. He sees the plan, not being fulfilled, but already fulfilled for God is not limited by time. He transcends time, and one day, time will be no more.
I wrote all of that to get to my point for the day. I was reading Sunday night about David with his four hundred men as refugees from Saul. Verse 3 and 4 of chapter 22, caught my eye.
“Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, ‘Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.’ So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.” (NKJV)
Moab! It was a hated name. Distant cousins of the Israelites – they came into existence because of incest. “Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab…” (Genesis 19:36-37, NKJV) It was Moab that sought Balaam to curse Israel and eventually was able to get the people of Israel to compromise their standards and marry with the Moabites. God told Moses, “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever.” (Deuteronomy 23:3, NKJV) Moab, stated through incest, was a thorn to Israel.
So why did David go to Moab for the safety of his family? Stop and consider. Who was David’s great grandmother? Ruth–a Moabite. “Now they [Naomi’s sons] took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there [Moab] about ten years.” (Ruth 1:4, NKJV) The blood of Moab ran through David’s veins. He knew that and he used it to take his parents to Moab for safety.
Go back to the beginning verse of today’s devotion, but be sure to keep in mind the plan of God, not just an incident or circumstance. From the birth of Moab, until the time of David, God saw that Moab would become a refuge for the parents of David. Oh, and also remember, that our Lord is a descendant of David–Moabite blood. Hmmm… Therefore, do not doubt in your circumstances. It may not be understood, in fact, not for many years, but God is at work. Trust Him!
————————————-
“And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.”
–Romans 8:28 (Amplified)
“Moreover we know that to those who love God, who are called according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good.”
–Romans 8:28 (Phillips)
The verse above is one of the most quoted in Christian circles. However, one of the problems is that far too often we do not have the right perspective. We cannot look at this verse and “claim it” when we are in dire circumstances or when catastrophe has hit. We must try to see it from God’s perspective, but that is also a problem for now we only have a glimpse, we see through a “glass darkly.”
God is infinite, so He sees everything from the beginning to the end. He is omnipresent, therefore He is already at the conclusion of the matter. Think for a moment, what that means: He is in the past, He is in the present, and He is already in the future. Our little feeble, human minds cannot comprehend the fullness of that. He is–I AM!–He declared. He sees the plan, not being fulfilled, but already fulfilled for God is not limited by time. He transcends time, and one day, time will be no more.
I wrote all of that to get to my point for the day. I was reading Sunday night about David with his four hundred men as refugees from Saul. Verse 3 and 4 of chapter 22, caught my eye.
“Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, ‘Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.’ So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.” (NKJV)
Moab! It was a hated name. Distant cousins of the Israelites – they came into existence because of incest. “Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab…” (Genesis 19:36-37, NKJV) It was Moab that sought Balaam to curse Israel and eventually was able to get the people of Israel to compromise their standards and marry with the Moabites. God told Moses, “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever.” (Deuteronomy 23:3, NKJV) Moab, stated through incest, was a thorn to Israel.
So why did David go to Moab for the safety of his family? Stop and consider. Who was David’s great grandmother? Ruth–a Moabite. “Now they [Naomi’s sons] took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there [Moab] about ten years.” (Ruth 1:4, NKJV) The blood of Moab ran through David’s veins. He knew that and he used it to take his parents to Moab for safety.
Go back to the beginning verse of today’s devotion, but be sure to keep in mind the plan of God, not just an incident or circumstance. From the birth of Moab, until the time of David, God saw that Moab would become a refuge for the parents of David. Oh, and also remember, that our Lord is a descendant of David–Moabite blood. Hmmm… Therefore, do not doubt in your circumstances. It may not be understood, in fact, not for many years, but God is at work. Trust Him!