Sunday Devotional ~ How is God not Disappointed in Me?

 

16 Proverbs 24:16a - for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again

When God chose us to be His, He knew everything we’d ever done and everything we were ever going to do. Nothing we do shocks Him or surprises Him. And nothing we do could separate us from His love. So what happens when we fail to resist temptation. What happens when we sin… again?

16 Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Sometimes our reaction to our sin is similar to Adam and Eve’s reaction in the garden. We made a mistake and we want to hide from God. We don’t want to face Him. How could we be anything but a disappointment to Him? We don’t feel strong or courageous. Instead we feel weak and cowardly. How can we go to Him in prayer and ask for forgiveness again? And again? How can He not get tired of us?

Hebrews 4:16 - Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Come boldly. Don’t let fear or worry hold us back. Without fear, and with confidence, not letting guilt or failure stop us. We didn’t surprise Him, and we cannot hide from Him, so there is no reason to withdraw from Him because we are dirty or broken. In fact, He expects us to come then. It is required. He tells us to “Come…” and wants us to seek Him instead of hiding. He wants us to be focused on Him and take His hand and His help when we fall so that we can rise again.

Our brokeness doesn’t scare Him, and our dirt doesn’t make Him shrink back. He is there to give us the mercy and grace that we need to rise again. Staying down in the dirt doesn’t make us more humble. Self-punishment doesn’t help us to stop sinning. Wallowing in our misery doesn’t get us back on track. Hiding from the Lord doesn’t help us be less of a disappointment to Him. But coming to Him without fear and asking for help is exactly what He wants from us. 

This message is best summed up by the Psalmist in Psalm 139 (1-18):

O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; 

You understand my thought from afar. 

You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 

Even before there is a word on my tongue, 

Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 

You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; 

It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 

Even there, Your hand will lead me,

And your right hand will lay hold of me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,

And the light around me will be night,”

Even there darkness is not dark to You,

And the night is as bright as the day. 

Darkness and light are alike to You.

For you formed my inward parts;

You wove me in my mother’s womb.

I will give thanks to you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from You. When I was made in secret

And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; 

And in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them.

How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them, they would outnumber the sand.

When I awake, I am still with You.

So then, if God knows everything we were ever going to do, how can we surprise Him? How can we disappoint Him? He already knew everything before we were even born. Yet He chose to love us anyway. He has seen everything we will do or say, and yet He died for us anyway.

No matter what we are going through or how dirty or broken we are, let us still come to God boldly and not hide from Him or let distractions and guilt keep us from Him. It’s my prayer today that we will always look to Him for help immediately upon falling so that we can rise sooner rather than later and keep moving forward, day by day, toward our prize.