Because God is great we rightfully expect that He will be great to us as we live out our days beneath the sky. We meet so many who will not confess that God is good to them. It is not that they accuse Him of being less than good with their pointed words of condemnation, for they are too 
pious for that kind of honesty. Instead they live in the drab world of dissatisfaction and complaint. They do not complain about God Himself but, rather, the life that He has given them. They err by seeking to separate the gift from its Giver and, as they diminish the gift bestowed, they sully the name of the Lord. So let’s ponder this counsel from the old prophet, Samuel:
“Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.” – 1 Samuel 12:16 {ESV}
Most of us believe that, were God to do something great, it would occur as a result of something we had done alongside of Him. If we forfeit all luxury here at home and travel to the remote parts of the world with the Gospel, then God will do something great. If we commit to a 30-day fast and pray with all our might, then God will do something great. If we forsake all of our fleshly pursuits then -and only then – will God be able to do something great. Is this always the way greatness works or is Samuel sharing something different with us?
At some point it needs to occur to us that God IS doing something great and it is not because He has responded to what we have done. It was Martin Luther who taught that God often blesses in spite of our unfaithfulness and He chooses to bless through our faithfulness…but He never blesses because of our faithfulness. He’s not interested in allowing for the opportunity for us to believe in error that He owes us something when we are good. God’s doing something great is in accordance with His own plan for the ages and, consequently, for our lives. When He chooses to bless, to reveal His majesty, to give a timely rescue, to provide a miraculous healing…God does so in order that He would be glorified and that we would be humbled and blessed in Him. This is not the same as us being rewarded for our sanctified performance. If you spend your Christian journey seeking to garner rewards from God then you will either become a legalist or a reprobate. If, on the other hand, you spend your Christian journey looking for the greatness of God for His own glory and not your personal benefit…you will become a very content worshiper.
Today I am blessed to gather with the saints at Meadow on the Lord’s day. We desire to experience the greatness of God. We will pray and seek His face both in preparation for our time together and during our time together. I personally hunger to experience the greatness of God this morning. I certainly have some large needs in my own life but I’m shoving them aside today because they pale in comparison with my need to be reminded that God is great apart from His meeting my needs. Quite frankly, I’m not concerned with getting what I think I might need today. I’m desperately concerned that if I do some religious song-and-dance to prove to God why it would be good for Him to meet those needs that I could miss whatever aspect of Himself that He has ordained for me to learn this day. What a shame it would be to fail to “stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes” because I spend the morning wondering if He is going to fix the disjointed elements of my life. May God grant us the unprecedented grace to detach completely from our own tiny kingdom as we rush through the celebration-gates of His own. He is the focus there, not we. He is the great One there and nobody else. Paul the missionary is on his face worshiping there. David the mighty king is there singing and dancing with all of his might before the King upon the throne. Moses the deliverer is proclaiming with glorified voice the might of his rescuing God. Solomon rejoices at the wisdom of Jesus Christ in the city of Heaven. These renown saints of old have learned something that we must eventually learn.
God is great. And that is enough.
THIS SHOWS NOTHING BUT COMPLETE HUMILITY WHICH CURES ALL WORLDLINESS. HALLELUJAH TO THE KING OF GLORY! AMEN!!!!
I tried many times to make a deal with God, I always fail, he never does, I guess it’s our flesh that thinks we could cut a deal “if I do this then you do that”…..silly human God’s will shall be done regardless of my feeble attemps to bargin. but I figure if I strive to be in the will of God giving up MY will for His, even the worst of times will be mild compared to being out of His will and going throught the same. Meadow helps me daily
thank you all.
Addendum to our previous comment:
In the Old Testament vows were acceptable.Genesis28:20,21 “Then Jacob made a vow, saying,”If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.” ‘ Deuteronomy23:21,22 ‘If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay in fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you,and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin.’
We think that these vows were acceptable in the era of the law, but we do not find such vows in the era of grace when Lord Jesus died for us because all human race sinned and fell short of the Glory of God. We like to know Pastor Jeff’s comment,
Sam & Zack.
Wow..Thank You Pastor for your blog-I have probably never thought of Gods’ blessings in the way that you commented today! Thank you for reminding us that our purpose is to Glorify Him in Everything. It is not about Us! He Is Enough.
We cannot buy something from God, or bribe God by what we assume as good works! Whatever we do will never grant us worthiness to God. What we count as good works is nothing but raggs that cannot hide our sin just the same as the figleaves that Adam and Eve tried to hide their nudity from the Lord God. Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” So God gave us salvation at the expence of the blood of His Son Jesus Christ and then gave us the gift of good works that He prepared for us to walk in, as a witness of our salvation to the sinful world.
Sam & Zack.
Peace my Bro.
I admit that I have been, and am guilty, of promising to “do something” if God meets some perceived need. Or to “do something better” so that God will be enabled to meet some perceived need. Heavy emphasis on the “do” on my part. God needs nothing from my actions to allow him to act but I do have to continually guard against this flawed thinking of mine… there it is again… the “me” – thinking this time- that gets in the way of my intimacy with my Lord. Looking forward to today and the messages that will be shared!
AMEN!!!!!!