Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Corinthians 7:10
Are five squirts necessary?
I am trying to decide if my usual five squirts of face wash are necessary, or if three would be enough. COVID-19 has taught me to think about how much of everything I am using, about how to conserve resources so I can put off a return trip to the store.
The pre-COVID-19 excess in our lives is becoming uncomfortably evident.
A full cup of cheese to top the pasta? Isn’t a half-cup sufficient?
Toss vegetable scraps? Why not save them for use in making vegetable broth?
Dump small branches and pinecones into yard waste? Couldn’t we use them for kindling?
I hadn’t realized how much of God’s abundance I had taken for granted, had come to expect, and had even regarded as my due.
Not only had I counted on having plenty of resources in our home, I had also taken as a given the abundance of choices and opportunities available to us.
Choices like a variety of toppings at our favorite pizzeria—which is currently only offering five pies, each with its own predetermined toppings. Even the use of the word only betrays my expectation that there should be more, more, more options.
Opportunities like gathering with loved ones, exploring local parks, and working.
It’s not that I don’t love the LORD. I do. It’s just that I have loved many, many things more than Him. I have loved my dependable routine and the lie of control it provided. I have loved the plenty—plenty of resources, plenty of choices, plenty of opportunities.
And that realization grieves me. I am grieved over how much COVID-19 has changed things. I am grieved over the big and small ways I have denied His provision.
Sweet Friend, may you and I never again take for granted the gift of His abundance. For the LORD gives and the LORD takes away. Praise be the name of the LORD.
READ:
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping His promises, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Job 1:21 The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.
Job 23:12 I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
REFLECT:
Consider where you have denied the ways in which the LORD has provided for you and your family. List as many as you can think of, large and small. Repent and acknowledge His sovereignty over your life.
PRAY:
Father, forgive me. I have been blind to the ways in which you provide for me and my family. I have believed that the choices and opportunities in my life were my doing, rather than Your gifting. Teach me to treasure the words of Your mouth more than my daily bread. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Unnesting During COVID-19 Devotional, Day 4: Rejoice
Would you like a pdf version of this devotional? Fill out the subscribe form in the right column and I will email a copy to you.