God Speaking

“..let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…” (Hebrews 10:22)

The media is full of doom and gloom around the globe. Every day we are bombarded with news of yet another country being mired in debt and threatening to collapse the economy of the whole world. We are constantly being reminded to check our investments to ensure we have enough for our old age. Advertisements entreat us to insure our houses/our health/our travel plans/even our pet’s health. No wonder fear of the future is a common phenomenon of our time. The good news for those of us who love the Lord is found in his word. What we find is that within his word the emphasis is not on “insurance” but “assurance”. Scripture is full of stories of those who were able to face the unexpected because they expected their faith to uphold them. One of the best illustrations of this is the story of David and Goliath.

David is a wonderful example of that principle. David would have had no idea that fateful day that he was to face a giant. His morning began with a simple request from his father to take some food to his brothers and the Israel army who were facing their enemies. (1 Samuel 17:17) Little did he know he was going to have to call on his faith to help him in the unexpected happenings of that day. We all know the wonderful outcome of that story and how a young boy was able to slay a giant using a stone flung from a sling, but when we read David’s words, shouted to Goliath, we grasp an incredible truth; we learn from where David’s victory really came from.

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty…” (1 Samuel 17:45)

We may not be required to fight a giant in our life time, but sometimes fears of what might happen can loom so large they seem gigantic and we feel helpless to do anything about them. This is when we need to check our “assurance policy”. Over and over again we are told that our Heavenly Father is faithful and can be trusted and we will find that there are no hidden clauses or no fine print to study in his promises. When the unexpected happens we are urged,

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16)

Fanny Crosby who was blind and yet wrote some of the most beautiful hymns ever written, summed up her faith in this (one of my favourites) one.

“Blessed assurance Jesus is mine

        Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine”

We cannot expect that the unexpected will not happen in our lives, but armed with our “assurance policy” we can expect to be able to deal with whatever comes along because we will have the water tight promises of the King of Kings to rely upon.

Related articles

• Be Inspired Not Motivated! (ikoaamblessed.com)
• Thoughts of Thanksgiving and the Life of David (1smallseed.wordpress.com)
• David and Goliath (ineverlostmypraise.wordpress.com)
• Tebow Like David When He Took on Goliath (bleacherreport.com)