The privilege
of being a child of God is the blessed access we have to Him. God is always
looking out for us. He wants the very best for us in life. Thus, we must live
mindfully, remembering that we are not our own, we belong to Hm. He has a
purpose for us and if we live our life to fulfil His purpose, we find great
satisfaction. He knows what we need most to truly live a life. So He has made every
provision we need to accomplish His purpose, no matter how trying life may be. We
can trust Him when circumstances are congenial and even when they are not. He has
made many great promises like Romans 8:28, “And we know that God
causes all things to work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are called according to His purpose.” Also, Jeremiah 29:11-12 that say, “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future
and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come
and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” And Romans 8:31, “If
God is for us, who is against us?” What a blessed life we can have when
we live for Him! In Proverbs 20:22-25 we are given four guidelines on how to relate
with the Lord.
Verse 22 reminds us
that we are His and we can trust Him because He undertakes to deal with people
with ill intention against us. We need not take matters into our hand for the
injustice, He can see them and will duly deal with our oppressors. In other places
in the Bible such as Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19; and Hebrews 10:30, God
reminds us that vengeance belongs to Him and He will repay it. Our faith in Him
demands that we be patient in hope and trust Him to correct any inequalities we
may have to encounter in life. Always remember that enduring hardship builds
patience, and patience develops character and character brings hope. And hope
does not fail us. God is waiting to intervene on our behalf.
Verse 23 reminds us
to deal honestly in life. Deceit and falsehood are repugnant to the Lord. If we
want to truly please God, we must never let live deceitfully. God wants us to
deal fairly and with integrity. We must emulate His faithfulness and deal
fairly like Him.
Verse 24 reminds us
to rely on Him for guidance. We cannot expect to live full and satisfying life by
trusting our own ways. Man may plan his steps, but ultimately it is God’s will that
will be accomplished. We are unlike God who is all seeing and all knowing. He
sees the end from the beginning. Whereas our understanding is progressive with
time. It would be foolhardy not to seek His guidance and walk in His direction.
Psalm 37:23 puts it this way, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way.” When we walk in His guided
path, we bring delight to Him. Let us learn to live according to divine
revelation.
Finally, verse 25 reminds
us that we must never renege on our word to the LORD. To live a consecrated
life is certainly good, but when we have made a pledge to do so, let’s not go
back on our word. Every promise we make to God should be binding. We must do
all we can to fulfil it. Be careful and think through before we make any vow to
the Lord. Any promise given impulsively can become a snare to our conscience and
stumbles us. Prolonged and repeated failure to keep a vow builds in us a life
that is not trustworthy. Always give our
fullest consideration before we make a vow to the Lord.
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