Devotions

David plainly tells us why God answered his prayers. “He also brought me out into a broad [large] place; he delivered me because he delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19, NKJV). Delight here means “to take pleasure or joy.” David was saying, “I bring pleasure to God. He delivered me simply because he takes pleasure in me.”

Our God takes pleasure in you and me as well! You see, we who trust in the Lord are his holy remnant. Remnant simply means “those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” They have been called out of a lazy Christendom and are totally devoted to Jesus.

To us, God says, “You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no longer be termed forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah [My delight is in her], and your land Beulah, for the Lord delights in you” (Isaiah 62:3-4). Why does God come to my rescue, so willing to deliver me? It is because he delights in me! I am a pleasure to him, and he enjoys my friendship.

A precious young man once told me, “I have never been convinced that I have truly been accepted by the Lord. I seldom feel good enough for him, like I just do not measure up. I keep trying to appease him by doing something good for others.”

So many Christians feel this way. Over the years, I have known many older Christians who never had assurance in the Lord. They felt unworthy, unclean, unloved. They never believed they were a delight to the heart of God, so they were always trying to work out something in their lives to please him. If they failed in one area, they did three things in another area to try to make God happy.

Beloved, this can never be! When you come to Jesus, you cannot make up anything to him. He makes it all up to you because that is who he is. He says, “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you” (Joel 2:25).

No matter your failures or shortcomings, God makes it all up to you!

Do you believe God is willing to come quickly to solve your problems?

Here is where many Christians fail. They know God has all they need. They admit he cares but are not convinced he is willing to come quickly to help them. When he doesn’t answer them right away, they imagine hindrances and blockages within themselves. They think of all kinds of reasons why the Lord must not be willing to come to their aid.

On Mount Carmel, Elijah accused the pagan god Baal of child neglect: “They…called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, ‘O Baal, hear us!’ But there was no voice; no one answered” (1 Kings 18:26, NKJV).

“And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, ‘Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.’ So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom…until the blood gushed out on them…but there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention” (1 Kings 18:27-29).

Hear these words again: “There was no voice…no answer…no one paid attention.”

This is exactly how you and I accuse God of child neglect! We pray and cry aloud to God, but we go our way not believing he has heard us. We walk away from the Lord’s presence, wondering if he is even paying attention.

The Lord is always ready to hear and answer our cry for help. I love what David said of him. “For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you. …In the day of my trouble I will call upon you, for you will answer me” (Psalm 86:5,7).

David essentially said, “My God is ready and willing to answer me in the very moment I cry out to him. I don’t stop and contemplate my trouble or grieve over it or try to figure it out. I go to my Lord and cry, ‘Help!’”

That is all God is waiting for, your heartbroken cry uttered in childlike faith!

God asks, “Do you truly believe that I see exactly what you are enduring right now?” Perhaps as you read this you are going through something that calls for him to act on your behalf. The very nature of your problem demands an answer.

Beloved, are you truly convinced that God monitors your every move as a father does his infant child? Do you know in your heart that he is interpreting every thought you think? Do you believe he is at work bottling every tear, hearing every sigh, hovering over you, loving and caring for you?

The Bible describes him as doing just that! “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. …The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:15,17, NKJV).

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Do you trust that God is absolutely, totally aware of your every thought, grief, pain, trial, financial burden, family problem and that he wants to see you through them all? The psalmist tells us, “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him” (Psalm 103:13).

The Hebrew word for pity here means “to cuddle, love, be compassionate.” Scripture is saying the Lord cradles in his arms those who fear him. He says, “I know your thoughts, your concerns and every battle you face, and I care.” No matter what you are going through, no matter how you feel, the Lord feels the very feelings of your infirmities. He knows every move you make.

God is not mad at you. No! He is thinking loving thoughts about you. He knows the way you feel, and he cares. He is saying, “Yes, you are going through rough waters; you are being tempted and tossed. But you are my child, and I will never allow the enemy to ensnare you. I am going to bring you through!”

She walked in with acid burns on her face, holding her severed hand. The village doctor took one look at her and said, “We can’t help you because we think you’re going to die. It’s bad karma if you die in the village because your ghost will haunt the hospital.”

These words aren’t from a novel; they were spoken by a lovely young woman who sat across from me, recounting her life story. Her name is Nora.

Nora was born in Cambodia and raised a Buddhist. We came to know her through the founder of Girls’ House of Refuge in Phnom Phen. This wonderful ministry takes in girls from the streets and provides them with care, safety, advocacy, education and most important, the transformational love of Jesus Christ. Nora had been brought there by her cousin who was a resident.

Nora’s life of poverty had led her into a violent relationship with a businessman, a leading member of her village whom the authorities couldn’t touch. He stalked her repeatedly, kidnapping and abusing her when he found her. Finally, one day he lay in wait. When she appeared, he threw battery acid in her face, stabbed her head with a butcher knife, hacked off her hand and left her for dead.

Nora vividly remembered lying there, whispering, “God, please help your child. Please.” Here she was, alone with a God she didn’t even know but to whom her spirit cried out. At that moment, she said, “There was a light, and something lifted me up” and she instantly knew Jesus was beside her. Like Hagar, the unloved concubine of Abram, Nora “called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing. …Truly here I have seen him who looks after me’” (Genesis 16:13, ESV).

In agony, Nora miraculously made her way to the village where the superstitious doctor turned her away. She was near death, but God had other plans. By his grace, she finally managed to find help and was taken to the hospital in Phnom Penh.

Today Nora lives at the Girls’ House of Refuge and shares her story of hope with other young women. Her hand sadly could not be saved, but her face has miraculously recovered from the acid burns. She is radiant, a daughter of the King, precious in his sight.

I remember shoveling snow off the basketball courts on Saturday mornings when I was young. I had just learned some new moves, and I was doing okay, but I needed to do this crossover better. I needed to follow through a little better. I would shoot 50 or 75 foul shots. You always have to keep improving; you never stop.

Peter talks about this mentality in our spiritual life. “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8, ESV).

We already have faith, but it's telling us to make every effort to add these to our faith. There’s no special order to these qualities, as far as I can make out; but he’s saying that these are godly qualities the Spirit grows in us. Not only that, Peter was saying, “Add to them.”

These verses also tell me that you can be a Christian and be ineffective because you’re not growing. You reached some point in your Christian walk and thought, “Okay, I made it. I know the Bible well enough. I’ll stop here.” You can’t. The moment you try to stop, you go backward. Also, don’t be content with just being strong in one area. Some people are great at giving, but their temper is out of control. Other people know their Bible very well; they’re devoted to the scriptures, but they’re tight as a crab, no generosity.

This is why Peter said to make every effort to grow! Now, here’s the mystery. God has to do everything in us, but we must make every effort. Remember, “Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). God doesn’t bless people who don’t reach after him.

Let us say, “God, give me grace. I want more. I have some wisdom you’ve given me; I want more. I’ve learned to pray, but I want to do it better. Help me to make every effort to grow and add to what you’ve already given me.”