Fixed exactly as I needed to be fixed
We've talked frequently about not only making right decisions, but what it takes from us when we make wrong ones. We don't always DO right, but we want to think we are right nonetheless. With God, he IS right, therefore he DOES right. With us, we aren't always connecting our new stand in Christ with the actions that should come as a result of our new 'connection' with the one who actually IS right. There is no decision he makes that is NOT on target. Don't you wish you could say the same about yourself? How many times have you bought a certain outfit (on the best sale of the year), determined that the "price" was what mattered, not that it even looked all that great on you, or that you actually needed to squeeze another outfit into your closet? Sometimes of 'doing' gets a little out of alignment with out 'being', doesn't it?
You are right and you do right, God; your decisions are right on target. You rightly instruct us in how to live ever faithful to you. My rivals nearly did me in, they persistently ignored your commandments. Your promise has been tested through and through, and I, your servant, love it dearly. (Psalm 119:137-140)
The price of that new outfit is important, BUT being something that falls well on your frame, compliments your coloring, and goes with other things in your wardrobe is quite different! There are times we count the cost as too high of a price to pay for something, overlooking the things on the rack with the power to make us look our best. Simply put, we are more concerned with the price than the actual way the item will adorn us. We avoid what might be the most beautiful way we could be adorned, all because we are into the 'bargain-basement' find. The trouble is that God has prepared the finest of things for us - we just don't put on all he has provided! Not every "bargain" is really a "bargain"! Sometimes the ease of the bargain is what attracts us, but it rarely carries the power to make us different in life. When it comes to the directing of our life by God, every move he makes in tailoring our lives is perfect! He is outfitting our minds with the best things designed specifically to affect our heart - so that our DOING can actually match up to our BEING!
His decisions for us are right on target! He is right, so he knows how to produce right in us! Here's the rub: we resist the best decisions because it requires we go a little out of our way, demands a higher cost from us up front, or we just don't believe it is really what we need! God targets certain things in our life because it IS what we need! There are days we go to the store to specifically buy undies - it is because we need them! We don't buy them every trip to the store, but just when we need them! God works on what we NEED - not always on what we want! Scripture tells us that God doesn't give us a stone when we ask for bread, or a snake when we ask for a fish. Yet, deep down, I wonder if we really expect the bread or the fish? Some of us have probably convinced ourselves we want a stone or a snake! Why? We don't see ourselves 'worthy' of the bread or fish. We see a disconnect between our being and our doing - so we believe what we should get from God is based upon our doing, not our being.
When we settle for the "whatever you wanna give me, God" mentality, we are telling God we are fine with the stuff some would see as left-overs in life. Maybe it is because we don't see ourselves as deserving the "best", or there is an underlying fear of seeking the best. God never asks for his kids to "settle". When it comes to his grace revealed in us, he wants us to display his best in us. He adorns us with what we need and all of his adornment is uniquely and purposefully prepared to fit us as we need to be fit! He adorns us as we are - knowing that the 'right fit' for us is found in his love and grace each and every time. Maybe it is time to ask God to direct us to the things that will adorn us in the best possible way. I have done my share of asking God for what I thought I wanted, only to find it wasn't what I needed. It wasn't until I felt the perfection of his best that I realized how much the 'fix me this way' was no real bargain in comparison to his 'fixed exactly as you needed to be fixed'! Just sayin!
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