“Let’s Make A Deal”!

Those who know your name trust in you, for you,   LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10

So often in life, we come across people who seemingly are down and out. They carry a lot of weight on their shoulders due to some tremendous failures in their lives. People experience failures in business and investments. Sometimes, it’s disappointments in relationships, like marriage or the family structure. Other let downs come from failed undertakings in social settings as people look for places to belong. Even in the church arena, people look for opportunities to discover ways to benefit their lives only to become disenchanted when church and faith becomes less than what they expect.

It’s here that people might find it acceptable to look for ways to bargain
 with God. Sometimes, people approach God with the idea of striking a
‘deal’ with the Lord to attain something that they are hoping to find or
attain. Too often, though, people fail to realize that God isn’t looking to
‘make deals’, or ‘trade favors’; instead, He looks to provide what is in
the best interest of his children according to His will.

It is here that many people lose interest in God’s plan and seek their ambitions elsewhere. They may feel like God does not care about their situation or their feelings. It could even be that they believe the so-called ‘deal’ has been broken by God because the Lord hasn’t given them what they wanted. This has great potential to give some people the notion that they have been ‘betrayed’ by God. This can continue to fester in the lives of such people until they totally lose confidence in the Lord and the idea of faith.

I believe that when we as people realize that God is the ‘Master Builder’ of our lives, we can come to the place where no matter what the situation is, no may matter what the circumstance may be, and no matter how bad things may appear; God has it all in the palm of His hand.

In Psalm 9:10, the psalmist writes that those who truly know God can trust Him if they keep trusting Him and seeking His will. You see, many times, this is where the issues develop. People can stop looking to God’s grand plan for our life and look to have God build our lives the way we see fit. The only problem with this is that we don’t know what is good for us and what is bad. We don’t have infinite knowledge and wisdom as the Lord. We don’t even possess the abilities to make the changes we desire; which leads us back to where we started in asking God to do something we want to satisfy our wants and desires. 

If I can convince people of one thing, it would be to give God the chance to lead us instead of expecting God to grant our wishes or comply with our ‘deals’.

If we could only understand that God looks to lead us into a life of fulfillment instead of disappointment; a life of prosperity, instead of a life of failures; and a life of joy, instead of a life of pain. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that God has our best interest in mind.

“’For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” I believe that if people are looking for a great ‘deal’, there is none better than the one God has already established for those who would place their trust and faith in Him.