“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
~Matthew 7:11
The temptation is to consider God a miser, a Scrooge who is worse than an evil father–an evil father who, for all his faults, still gives his children good gifts.
But God isn’t a miser. He isn’t a Scrooge.
He delights to give good things to those who ask Him.
“The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing. ”
~Psalm 145:15-16
God does not merely cause to thirst; He satisfies thirst.
He does not merely cause hunger; He satisfies hunger.
He does not merely awaken desire; He satisfies desire.
What’s more, this passage says that He satisfies the desire of every living thing.
Which means me.
He satisfies my desire.
Yet my desire remains unsatisfied.
Why?
In this is my consolation:
“Because God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.”
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning (quoted in Robin Jones Gunn’s Echoes)
God gives good gifts.
God satisfies the desire of every living thing.
So why has my desire been unsatisfied heretofore?
Because God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.
Because God is better at identifying good gifts than I am.
Because God knows best how and when and where and with whom to satisfy my desires.
Thus I will trust Him–because I know that He will satisfy my desire–and that however He chooses to do it (whether by granting me a husband or not), that gift will put my best dreams to shame.
Don’t forget to take a look at Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”, where bloggers collect quotes they’ve read throughout the week.
I love that quote — I’d never seen it before. I love the way you applied it, too.
Psalm 145 – my fave! Glad to see you quoting it. I don’t always understand how or even THAT God satisfies my desires, but I have to trust by faith that it is happening…