Good food

I read this verse this morning in my quiet time and had to stop and apply it immediately...

Psalm 37:3
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness...

Feed on His faithfulness. Let God's faithfulness become your food - the thing that sustains you from day to day and gives you the nutrients you need to continue. What a great reminder!

I know for me, prayer can easily turn into whining - money is tight, we don't know how we're going to accomplish something, things aren't working out like we had planned, etc. We have so many needs. I can honestly say that some of my most gratifying times of prayer have been when I stopped whining and just fed on God's faithfulness.

Instead of praying for money, I thank God for being my Provider and clothing me even better than the flowers of the field (Matthew 6:28-30).

Instead of praying for things to work out according to my plans, I thank God for working ALL things out according to HIS plan (Romans 8:28).

Instead of worrying about what the future holds, I thank God that He has a great plans for me (Jeremiah 29:11).

Instead of being bogged down by fear and worry, I allow God's peace to guard my heart (Philippians 4:4-7).

Even when God feels far away, instead of whining about it, I can remind myself that He is very near and tells us to approach Him with confidence (Hebrews 4:14-16).

When I've messed up, I can thank God for forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and for remaining faithful even when I'm not (2 Timothy 2:13).

God is so glorified in our lives when we feed on His faithfulness. And the truth is, we NEED to feed on that. God's faithfulness shouldn't be a snack that we pull out every once in a while. God's faithfulness shouldn't even be the dessert (even though it is pretty sweet) that we pull out every so often. The faithfulness of our God should be the main course - the spiritual meal that strengthens us and provides the nutrients and sustenance that we need on a daily basis.

My prayer is that God gives me cravings for His faithfulness. You know the feeling. Sometimes you can't go on without a large cherry limeade with extra cherries from Sonic, or a Reese's Blizzard from Dairy Queen, or a grande Americano from Starbucks. What if, throughout the day, you craved God's faithfulness? What if you craved it so much that you had to get to the nearest spot where it could just be you and God - even for just a couple minutes - and fest on His faithfulness?!

Eat up, folks. God's faithfulness is bigger and far better than any all-you-can-eat buffet you've ever been to!

Bon Apetit!