Listen to Devotion

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

Which glass holds more: a tall skinny glass or a short, wide glass? If you present this to a group of young children, they might assume that the skinny glass holds more water in it because it is much taller. How surprised they are to see the results in a measuring cup!

Do you think God is giving you a short cup? Do you feel as though you are just getting by financially? Are you frustrated that you haven’t been given certain talents and abilities? Or perhaps you notice what others are able to do with their time and money, and you wonder why you have to make do with less. All of these thoughts are sins against God. When we complain about what we do not have, we are complaining to God. We are telling him that he isn’t blessing us enough.

How dare we tell God how to be God! The Bible does not promise that we will always be comfortable. He doesn’t promise to bless everyone equally. We know that God provides us with gifts and treasures, and he wants us to use them to serve him and to bless others. He also wants us to enjoy the life that he as given us. But comparing our life to our neighbor’s will never bring us satisfaction and can lead to a spiral of discontentment and bitterness.

When we take a look at all that God has provided for us, and all that he has done for us, we see that God has given us even more than we need. God always gives us “immeasurably more” than we need.

We can never ask too much of God. He hears our prayers, and he wants us to talk to him every day. Although he may not give us exactly what we want, he gives us what we need. And he wants us to come to him as a child comes to his parents. So, when we think that God is not providing enough, let us remember that God always gives us more than we need, and will continue to provide until we see him in heaven.

But even better than our physical blessings, God provided for our biggest need of all—our need for a Savior from all sins, including the sins of our complaints and dissatisfaction. God sees the desires of our heart and the bitterness that we have towards him, but instead of condemning us, he sent his Son to remove those sins from our record. When these thoughts of discontentment creep in, we can come to God and humbly ask him to forgive us and to thank him for reminding us that we have forgiveness through Jesus.