LEVERAGE

As I have said many times before, God knows the whole story.

When goods and services are used as leverage, whether withheld or begrudgedly given, God knows the motives of the heart. Still, it pains me to bear witness to the depths to which some people are willing to sink to satisfy their own selfish desires. Nevertheless, when resources, particularly food, is withheld from me, while I may not always testify about it, I use the situation as an opportunity to "fast and pray;" which never works out well for the purposes of the withholder. When claims are submitted to a just God on a platform of injustice, defeat is the foregone conclusion. It's not that I don't know where the resources are or how to access them; it's the way I'm treated when soliciting them. The Bible says:

Isaiah 32:5-7 (NLT)

⁵No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected. ⁶For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the LORD; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water. ⁷Scoundrels use wicked methods, they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.

My grandfather, who was a man of God, was a soft-spoken man; yet, he was known in our family for his sayings. When I lost my newborn son, inconsolable, I took to my bed. My grandfather didn't scoff at me to take up my bed and walk. But rather, during that excruciatingly low point in my life, he simply said: "Well, don't just lay there; pray there." Sometimes, when it looks like I'm just lounging around, I'm actually heeding my granddaddy's advice. God didn’t just predestine me, He predestined the stock from whence I came.

The most self-destructive thing that my enemies could've done was to have this woman of God thrown into the gutter. Because, no matter my physical location, my spiritual posture is always worship. Now, those who followed the instructions of my enemy's unwarranted vengeance, come to the very same gutter in search of a discarded reward. For certain, the road to triumph is sometimes littered with obstacles. Howbeit, down doesn't mean you're out. My grandfather was wise indeed, prayer works. But, there's no better leverage in negotiating spiritual obstacles than "fasting and praying." If you know, you know.

I know it sounds like I'm just not taking advantage of the system, but when I say God knows the whole story, He knows. For instance, after an unnecessarily long, back and forth process, my food stamps, so they said, were finally approved, but either they never sent the card or someone intercepted it. This is the sort of spiteful nonsense that I've had to deal with repeatedly. Oh, but they get angry if I reject water. But, God is not mocked, along with the water must be a spirit of belief.

The work of the LORD is not a popularity contest, neither is it to be done willfully nor begrudgedly. God does not show favoritism to the rich nor the esteemed; He extends favor to the lowly: And, He did not turn His back on the poor; He sent the rich empty away.

You can't shake my faith. "Absent from the body, present with the LORD."

Thank You Jesus

I TRUST YOU LORD


Is begrudged giving a sin? Click below:

 

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