“You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3
A while back I saw this picture of Jesus asking the little girl to give up something priceless before showing her the exchange. She had to trust in His offer before she could see the reward. I am sure that the little girl didn’t even think she needed another teddy bear. She was content with the one she had…small in size…deep in comfort…longevity in possession.
In so many ways I am like this little girl. I hold tightly onto the comforts of this world, when God desires to give me so much more. I determine the measure of worth to precious things like my family, friends and possessions...grasping with white knuckles. This morning I visualized these bears representing my faith journey. God desires to expand and enlarge our faith, but it will always involve giving up something of this world to gain something larger from His hands. Many times, we fail to receive, because we are scared to believe. There have been many times when the exchange has happened…I reached out my little bear named Faith and God exchanged it for something grander. Other times, I have offered up my little Faith and my arms are still empty. But I fully understand that if the exchange hasn’t yet happened, it’s only because He knows that my arms are not yet big enough to receive the reward. Until that time, He gives peace…and I mean real peace. He gives His abundance …and I mean more of Him than I can ever imagine.
If God is asking you to give Him something, you can trust that what He is withholding will make your heart soar. You can trust that in the meantime He will be your peace and your abundance. Your faith will continue to grow as you lay things down at His feet.
“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ And the Lord said, ‘If you have faith in God even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree which has very strong roots, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” Luke 17:5-6
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