Contempt Vs. Respect

It is better to believe God when He says something, than to not - Numbers 14:11 We often struggle with believing God. We say that we trust him, we say that we know he has a good plan for our life, and that he is with us and for us. But the truth is that we often, do not really believe him. See believing, truly believing is like that of child. When you tell a child that you are going to do something, they believe you. If you say, I will be at home at 4 on the dot, and I’m bringing an elephant with me that will have a special gift for you on the tip of it’s nose…as ridiculous as that sounds, that child believes you when you say it. That is, they believe you until you so often let them down that they know better than to believe you. See, the first time you tell a child something, they have no reason to believe you are lying. In fact, as children are growing up in the pureness of who they are, they don’t even know what lies are. They believe you because they don’t know that you could potentially be lying to them, so they have no option than to believe you. But as they quickly discover, people let people down all the time, and so start the lies, start the deceptions, start the failures, and the drop offs. Little by little, that child begins to realize that although you mean well, just because you say it, doesn’t mean it’s true or that it will come to be. Just because you said they will able to fly, doesn’t mean they will be able to. That’s how we all start, with a child-like faith, that just believes. But then as life happens, we lose that faith because of the ups and downs we’ve experience, because of the let downs and the drop offs, the incomplete dreams, the sorry after sorry of unaccomplished promises. We become underwhelmed by promises and simply lose hope, lose faith, don’t believe as easily. At least that way, we aren’t setting ourselves up for failure or let down, right? Wrong….so wrong though! That’s the thing. Yes, we have been let down, yes, we have let others down, yes, life sucks at times and we find ourselves in a whirlwind of emotions, but God is still true and faithful and constant. His love is still over us. When he speaks, he means it. Every single word He says has purpose. Every single intonation, every single syllable, every single whisper, and sigh, has a meaning. Nothing that flows out of His mouth should be something we cannot 100 % trust in and believe. To not believe what He speaks to us and promises us is worst than if we sin the greatest sin in our mind. Murder, adultery, fornication, stealing, lying, cheating, etc…you name the sing, none of them are worst than disbelief in Him. No wonder he says we’d be better off never having known him than to know him and still lack faith in Him. Wow. Think about that…..He would rather you never knew Him, than for you to know Him but not really know Him in all His fullness. He says to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?” God has done so much in our lives, shoot, in mine for sure! How much more will He have to do to prove to me that if He said it, it will come to pass. That if He says He loves me, He does. That if He says He will use me, He will. That if He says that nothing I do or say or think will ever make Him love me less, He means it. That if I fall, He will be there to pick me up. That if I touch the fire, He can heal my wound. That if He says to put Him first and everything else will fall into place, it will. That no matter what I do, He will work things out for my good if I let Him, then that is exactly what will happen. Come on now. Get with the program (talking to my self here). Contempt – Definition -the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn. -disregard for something that should be taken into account. -the offense of being disobedient to or disrespectful of a court of law and its officers. When will we stop treating God with contempt!? When will we start taking His word into consideration, seeing its worth for all it deserves? When will we take Him into account? When will we choose to obey and respect Him because He is the ultimate authority in our lives? I may be preaching to the choir here, but boy oh boy, I hope you’re hearing this? May our spiritual eyes and ears be open to the fact that He isn’t looking for our perfect sacrifice, He is looking for our respect – which is the opposite of contempt. Respect – Definition: -a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. -due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others. When has God ever let you down? When has He ever failed you? When has He ever left you? When has He ever stopped pursuing you? When has He ever stopped lavishing His love on you? Doesn’t He then deserve our admiration, our regard because He has shown himself worthy, and proven time and time again that He is able, His very character is faithfulness, and He has always come through, up unto the point of giving His all for us? Is He not worthy then of our regard – for us to put his wishes, his rights, traditions and feelings before ours? Father, help us to see you in the way you deserve. May we fall on our faces as we are humbled by your grace, by your mercy and by your empathy for us. You regard us with such love, you always put us before everything else, and you are able to do it so well for each and every person who lets you. There is nothing that is too great, nothing that is too difficult, to impossible for you to handle. Lavish your love on us, we need you. Remind us how great your love is. Remind our soul that it is well as long as we are with you. Teach us to love ourselves the way you love us, so that we can then in turn love others with the kind of love you pour into us that flows out abundantly out a heart that is full and grateful. Fill us with your joy! May you be our joy in all!