Thursday, October 11, 2007

Undeserving

About a year ago, my father had been praying about finding a place for me, my sisters and our families to go on vacation together. He was looking for a condo or house, nothing fancy or expensive, but something clean and big enough to hold seven adults and five children. He told no one about his wish for a family vacation -- no one except God. Then, out of the blue, a man from his church came into his office and asked him if he was looking for a place to take his family on vacation. This man proceeded to tell my dad that he owned a home on the beach in Destin, Florida that rents for $6,500 per week. My father quickly told him that it was way out of his price range. The man then told my dad that if he could afford the maid fee of $400, the house would be ours for a week in July. So, the last week in July, my sisters and I took our families on vacation to a multi-million dollar home in Florida. A place we could never have afforded, was graciously offered to us for basically nothing.
Isn’t that just like God? We ask for sufficient and he gives us magnificent. Ask the hungry people who were there listening to Jesus preach on a seaside mountain (John 6). They wanted just enough to give them energy to be able to stay and hear His message, but He fed them until they were full. Not only were they full, but there were baskets full of leftovers. Or you could ask Simon Peter who was discouraged when his fishing nets were empty. Jesus spoke and immediately Peter’s nets were overflowing (Luke 5). What about Elizabeth? She asked for a child (Luke 1). She never said “Lord, give me a child who will be the forerunner of the promised Messiah”, but that is exactly what God gave to her. If we could only talk to the man who was born blind, the paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof, the leper, Lazarus, the disciples in a boat on a stormy sea, I believe they would all tell us stories of how God blessed them over and above what they ever imagined. Then there is me, I will be the first to tell you that I deserve death, hell, and eternal separation from God, but He has promised me everlasting life with Him in a perfect place that is more beautiful than I can even imagine. None of us deserves to be blessed by God, but He is always faithful even when we are not.

5 comments:

Fran said...

You are so right! I can truly be amazed and in awe of His love for us! Completely undeserving!

I hope ya'll have a great weekend and you love the fact that Fall has arrived. Your boys are adorable and just too cute.

Stay warm. Embrace the change of seasons. He is marvelous.
Blessings~

Earen said...

Your boys are just too cute! You are right, we deserve nothing & yet the Lord continues to bless us. He's such a wonderful God! Thanks for the great thoughts!

Alana said...

Wow, that's amazing!

Anonymous said...

I am from Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. Destin is beautiful. What a wonderful blessing from God. it's great to see you praise him for it!

Renee said...

That's a great story!! I love hearing about God things like that. I believe there are 'God stories' like that all around us, but they're not always recognized for what they are.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. God has been incredibly faithful and generous to us in our current situation, and I am just as undeserving as he is merciful. Why would he care about the details of MY life? Who am I? But he does...and it's awesome!!

Thanks for this post. It was something I needed to hear. To be reminded of just how good our God is.