Nehemiah 9:19-31
Our God is a compassionate and gracious God. Did you ever think that God is unfair? I sure did. I mean it is unfair how much grace and mercy our God shows when we sin so many times, even after we repent and ask Him for forgiveness. Sometimes God leads us into the wilderness to test our faith, other times He leads us into the wilderness to capture our attention. Many times God led the Israelites into the wilderness to catch their attention to their sin and wicked ways. He also gave them multiple warnings about their wicked ways yet the Israelites turned their back to God and still disobeyed with their arrogance. Yet even when you had to lead them into the wilderness, into troubles, You never once abandoned Your people.
I remember learning how to ride a bike when I was around 5 years old. It was a spectacular memory in Gardena. I had training wheels ever since I started to ride at 4 years old but one day my dad decided to take them off to teach me how to properly ride a bike. He began to hold the back of my seat as I started to pedal on my own. It was nerve-wrecking and I began to wobble but my dad was right behind me, holding onto the seat. However as soon as I got stable in my control of the bike, my dad slowly let go of his hands. I would wobble again and he would quickly grab the seat. Slowly he would let go again and let me bike on my own. Eventually he completely stopped following me and just led me to go on my own. Unfortunately I fell after riding on my own and my dad immediately ran over to help me get back up. I tried again and without my dad’s help I was able to ride the bike on my own.
The same compassion I saw in my dad is the same compassionate spirit I see in our God. He is always right there for us, ready to pick us up when we cry out for help. Unfortunately many times, we feel we do not need His help or guidance but the reality is otherwise. We always need the Lord to guide us in our lives and in the steps that we take. We must rely on the Lord to help us overcome sin and the temptation of wickedness. When we do not pay attention to the Lord, sometimes He may rebuke us but He does it not out of punishment but out of love so that we do not fall off the deep end. As we reflect on His compassion, let us continuous remain obedient to Him and honor our God in everything that we do.
Proverbs 18
Our God is a powerful God and we can always run to Him. It says in verse 10 that the “name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” When we face temptation or attacks from the evil one, we can always turn to God and find safety in His tower.
Pride always comes before destruction. Arrogance always comes before one’s fall. It says in verse 12 that “Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.” We must remain humble always in the sight of God or we will eventually fall due to our pride.
We should always seek to get married and find a godly spouse in our lives. It says in verse 22 that “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.”