Psalm 18:30 “This God—his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” Today's episode talks about how God's way is perfect, even when it doesn't look like it. God's plans often don't look like we would want them to. Usually, God doesn't make bad things happen. However, he does use these bad things for our good. He is so good that He can turn all things around for our good. The verse also reminds us that if we want God to shield us, we need to take refuge in Him. We need to ask Him if we want Him to help us. He will allow us to go at it alone if we want to. That is how much He respects our free will. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
God’s Way Is Perfect
Psalm 18:30 “This God—his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”
I love this verse because it shows us the goodness of God. However, some of us may argue with the first line. “This God —his way is perfect. His ways might not seem perfect if we know someone who is struggling right now. His ways might not seem perfect if we know someone who is sick and whose prognosis looks dire. His ways might not seem perfect if you have lost a child, a spouse, or a family member way too young. My son’s girlfriend said she could not believe in a God who lets little children get cancer. Honestly, I get that. I don’t know what to say to her about that.
I do know that the Bible is the Word of God and that it is true. When the Bible says that God’s way is perfect, then I know it is true. The reason it doesn’t seem like it is true a lot of the time is because we can’t see all that God can see. We think God took a job away from us, but really, He was preparing us and freeing us up for a better job. We think God is responsible for our son getting kicked out of school, but really he is removing him from a bad situation.
It is also important to remember that in many circumstances, God did not cause the bad thing to happen. God did not give the children cancer. God did not give your loved one the thing that is causing their death. God did not cause you to lose your job. God did not cause you to fail that class or lose that friend. God does not need to make bad things happen to us. We are very good at doing that to ourselves. God does, however, take the bad things that we get ourselves into and use them for our good.
For instance, He may not have given you the cancer, but He can use it to make you stronger. He may not have taken your job away from you, but He might have allowed that door to close so you could walk through a better door. This happened with my husband Tony. He was in the Air Force, and for two years straight, he applied to every federal job he could find. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the Air Force; he just wanted to be a civilian and not have to move around so much. He really wanted to be a criminal investigator. However, he could not get hired as a civilian because there were so many others applying who had veterans' preferences. He would have had this if he had gotten out of the Air Force and then applied for these jobs. At the time, we had 2 small children, and I was pregnant with our third. there was no way he was going to quit one job before he had another job. How would we pay our bills? What would we do for medical insurance? Tony decided to stop applying and just stay in the Air Force. Our next assignment was to Germany.
We were only in Germany for a little over a year when Tony found out he needed to separate from the Air Force. They had too many majors in his career field. Tony was devastated. He had come to terms with staying in the Air Force and retiring after 20 years of service. Now, at 11 years of service, they are telling him he has to separate. This was devastating to him. However, He was able to pick up a civilian job that was right up his alley. It was actually the perfect job for him, and it was a promotion from where he was in the military rank-wise. We were able to rent a really nice house in England, and everything work-wise was great.
God knew what Tony wanted. He knew what would ultimately make him happy. He helped him get to where he wanted to be. He is not a criminal investigator, but he does have a civilian job that he really likes. Sometimes, oftentimes, God’s plan doesn’t look like we would like it to. Tony wanted a transition to civil service that was full of assurances and security. This is not what it looked like. He was let go with 4 months notice. They gave him 4 months to find another job. They also said he could keep medical insurance for up to either 6 months or a year. So, even though it didn’t look like Tony wanted it to, it did provide him with some security.
Did something similar happen in your life? Were you looking/searching for something, and you finally got there, but the road to get there looked nothing like you thought it would? Yep, me too. This verse tells us that God’s way is perfect and that His promises come true. God has said in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” We can get ourselves into some pretty interesting situations, and I, for one, am glad that God is there to turn those crazy situations into good ones. I am grateful that I don’t have to fix it on my own. I am grateful that his way is perfect. This takes the pressure off of us to be perfect.
The last line says, “He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” God can and will protect us. He is our shield. However, it is important to point out that this verse says, “For all who take refuge in Him.” It is our choice whether we want God to be our shield or not. If we want to be on our own in the world, God will let us. He does not go where He is not wanted. He gave us free will, and He takes it very seriously. If you want God to be your shield, you need to ask Him. You need to invite Him into your life and give Him permission to work in your life. A great way to start each day is to say, “Good morning God, Dad, Lord, Papa, or whatever your name you have for God. I invite you into this day with me. I give you permission to work freely in my day and to shield me from all I need shielding from. Thank you, Lord, I love you!” It can be as simple as that. If you have never done this before, I invite you to do it today and see how different your life could be with God shielding you from the hurt and the pain.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we thank you for working all things for our good. We are sorry we don’t come to you every time we need you. We are sorry we keep you on the outside looking in. Please forgive us, Lord. Please help us to remember to ask for your help and your guidance. Remind us to invite you in and to take refuge in you. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in the name of Jesus, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you are not on my email list I would like to invite you to click here or go to my website to sign up. When you do I will send you a quick audio training on how to incorporate prayer into the things you are already doing. We are all busy and might not be able to find the time to add even just 10 minutes of prayer into our schedules. However, in this audio training I will teach you to add prayer into your lives without any time to your schedule. Check it out! I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I am your Jesus who loves you. I love you so much that I gave my life for each and every one of you so that you may be free of everything. Free of your anxieties, free of your fears, free of everything that binds you. My children, I love you so much that I would go through it all again because of my love for you. My children, if you ask the Father anything in my name and you ask it and trust, He will give it to you. I am the all-powerful one. I am the almighty. I am your Savior. I am all that you need to succeed, my children. So come to me, for through me, all things are possible.”