Does God owe me?
Do I believe that if I live by right principles then God will bless me? I could back up that belief with a bunch of different scriptures.
You withhold no good thing from those who love your name.
He will never let the righteous fall.
Blessed is the man who does not delight in evil...but his delight is in the law of the Lord... he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water...
No harm befalls the righteous.
If you obey me [these blessings] will follow you.
Certainly God lays forth principals in his word that have an "if you, then I" clause to them. God is faithful and just. He does lift up the humble and oppose the proud.
Ask and it will be given to you.
Seek and you'll find.
Knock and the door will be opened to you.
But, does God owe me that?
If I live right, is he required to bless me?
Is he bound by my goodness to do right by me?
How presumptions and big am I? God is still God! Certainly he is not a man that he should lie! He will not give me a stone when I ask for bread or a snake when I ask for a fish.
But what about Job?
What about the persecuted church around the world?
What about all the people who live right, who walk blameless, who refuse to sin... and yet are poor and despised and barely hanging on? Did God fail them?
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Blessed are those who believe even though they have not seen.
Sometimes, the blessing I expect, the result I plan to get by following the right principles will not be there! Sometimes God's ways are not my ways. His thoughts are not my thoughts. He sees things I don't. He knows things I don't. I may be laying up treasure in heaven. I may not see the answers to my prayers here on this earth. I may not see the reward for my hard work here on earth, but God will follow through on his promises. Just not always in the way or time frame I expect him to. And when he does bless me here on earth or in heaven, it's not because of my goodness. It's all His grace! He doesn't owe me a thing. He already did more than I could ask for. I owe him all!
I have learned to be content no matter the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed of hungry, whether living in plenty of in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Without the Lord the laborers labor in vain.
It is only by your grace Lord. Turn your face to us and have mercy on us.
Be joyful always. Pray continuously, give thanks in every circumstance for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
As Corrie Ten Boom and her sister were thankful for the fleas even though they knew not why. Even though I don't see the answer today and don't understand today. God is good. He loves me. He will do right by me. Even if I have to give up good things for his best. He sees a bigger picture.
He is trustworthy.