God is not our Genie in a bottle. And thank goodness because he is so much more than that!!! A genie only grants us three wishes (instant gratification for that exact time in our life …. oops for later on) God, is our loving father in heaven who stays ‘closer than a brother’ right throughout our whole lives and His blessings never run out.
But its not all peaches and cream.
There will also be seasons of struggles and drought.
Times when our trust is tested.
And sometimes, God will even ‘take away’ from us if he knows it will helps us grow and become more like the person that He has destined us to be.
Throughout our lives, we will all experience times of abundance and blessing and times of scarceness and sorrow.
What we need to do is stay close to God and praise him at all times – no matter what the circumstances.
Because JOY comes in the morning. And the darkest night is that much more manageable with God at our side.
Lets have a quick look at the story of Job.
Job was a blameless and upright man but Satan said to God … ‘Sure it’s easy to be faithful when he is living in plenty and blessed in everything he does. But what about if things aren’t so rosy. If times are dark and dreary. Will he still be praising you?”
So God gave Satan permission to test Job. To bring on him the worst kind of affliction.
And how did Job react???
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job 1:20-21
Let us be encouraged to stay faithful to God through all seasons. And let us also be ready to offer comfort to those who are in need. (You can read more about this in my story of giving and tithing, which will be my next blog post)
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 New Living Translation (NLT)
God Offers Comfort to All
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.