As a newlywed at the age of twenty one, marriage was uncharted waters. That age seems so young now and indeed it was. As a returning adult student who was working fulltime; my classes were taken at night and many of those nights became very late nights. My new bride wasn’t really a fan of my night school; she initially hated to be left alone at night. We lived in the City of Chicago. She would always wait up for me. Upon returning home very late one night, I found the door chained from the inside. We never used the chain. My mind instantly created a worse case scenario. In a split second, the door was kicked in, fully expecting to have to battle a home intruder(s). Startled from a sound sleep on the sofa, my wife quickly realized that she had some how inadvertently, chained the door, locking me out.
God is very protective of His people and we too, being in His image are protective of our loved ones. Israel was stubborn and didn’t always want the LORD’s protection or even having Him in their lives. It is our human nature to want to be independent; but God wants us to be dependant upon Him.
Matthew 23:37 KJV O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
We want to do things our way instead of yielding to God. As parents, we want our children to come to us for advice and help. God instilled that desire in us as parents because He is that way; but our carnality wants to lean on our own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5 KJV Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In our society, it is considered weakness for a man to display meekness of character and to be soft hearted; with soft and kind words. Men are expected to be tough and hard hearted. Many families have crossed my path over the years where everyone was a brawler; using harsh words and being loud. The LORD wants us to be loving and kind. He is the Creator of the Universe and All Powerful, yet it is not beyond God to be tender. The LORD wants us to be trusting in Him for even the smallest things. He wants to provide for us and to protect us. His righteousness and love are to live in us in a dependency upon Him. After all, we can not create the oxygen that we need to breathe the breath of life, nor can we create the water and food that we need to sustain our lives. God wants us to find our strength in Him. He wants to be our strong tower.
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Our relationship to the LORD needs to be one of total trust and dependency. Being self sufficient lacks faith and dishonors God. We must realize that we were created for Him. Our lives are to be living in agreement with His ways; in fact, our steps are to be ordered by the LORD if we are humbly living in His will.
Psalms 37:23 KJV The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
The world and we too, sometimes live in fear; but that was not God’s intent for us. Fear comes from the enemy, the devil. The LORD gives us a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind. That comes from the LORD and we must ask Him for that spirit. Hs spirit is a promise to those who humble themselves in repentance; who are baptized in Jesus’ name and ask for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
God wants us to rely on Him and live in the tender power of His love. We must first be conqueror by the LORD and resist the devil and the evil ways of this world.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
We are called to have an eternal and loving relationship with the LORD. It will be beyond our wildest imagination. It starts now by trusting Him and relying upon Him; forsaking our own way and not leaning on our own strength and understanding. Yield to God today and begin a wonderfully rewarding relationship with the LORD.
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