Good Gifts to His Children

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11 ESV). Sometimes it’s easy to take things for granted. When we do, it is also easy to loose sight of the protective care and love of our heavenly Father. Recently I read an excerpt from a book by James Kennedy. It’s kind of a "Did you know?" piece that puts the simplest gifts given to us in perspective. He writes: The world in which live shows clearly the care and concern of God. Here’s why: If our earth were just 10% closer to the sun we would burn up. If it were 10% farther from the sun we would freeze to death. If the moon were one fifth closer to the earth we would have 50-foot tidal waves twice a day covering most of the earth’s surface. Now here’s something I did not know. Most liquids contract when they freeze. Yet, when water freezes, it expands! If it didn’t, all of the lakes (and there are lots of em’) and rivers would freeze from the bottom up and all of the fish would be killed. We live on something like an apple. The solid part of the earth is relatively thinner than the skin of an apple. Most of the rest of the earth is molten lava capable of burning us instantly to a cinder. Above us there are ultra violet rays and other rays also capable of destroying us. We are protected from the heat below and we are protected from the killer rays above by the atmosphere, and definitely by the hand of a higher being. Our balanced atmosphere with 21% oxygen is just right for humans to breathe and just thick enough to keep us from being killed by millions of meteorites that constantly strike this planet every year and are burned up in our atmosphere! Be careful that you don’t just read these facts and come away with a “That’s nice, so what?” attitude. It underscores the love and care of God for us. When I get the feeling that God has forgotten me, or worse, that He is punishing me, it is helpful to do two things. First, I always go directly to Him. Sounds silly to be reminded of that fundamental principle. But, most of the time we forget to go to the real source of life. Like David did when he found himself feeling abandoned, I cry out to the Lord. Second, I ask Him for His gifts of life. There are those times when I have made mistakes that have brought some consequence of difficulty into my life. However, God’s desire for me is to lift me out of those things and place me back on a path of peace and joy. He delights in giving to all of His children good gifts. We turn ourselves toward the negative so quickly and play the part of martyrs. Jesus died so that we might have life. Trust in that truth. As you read the things God did in the creation to insure that we would be safe on earth, does it sound like He wants to hurt us? Of course not! He wants to give us good things. Ask for them! Accept them!