Getting A Raw Deal from God

At a certain point in our Christian walk we begin trusting God. We start small; asking small things and getting small answers. It boosts our faith to begin asking for bigger things and entrust to God situations in our lives that really matter to us. You'd think that the more faith we have, the more maturity we have, the more likely God will answer us. Not so.

As the children of Israel settled the Promised Land God gave out large portions of property to the various tribes. I'm sure the various tribal leaders were excited to learn what God was giving them after they had worked so hard to take the land from the Canaanites.

But one tribe got this response: Joshua 18:7 "The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance."

So, in other words, they served in the Temple (or Tabernacle at that time) and that was it. Yes, they got some towns to live in, but no huge tracts of land to own and look over and say "that's my spread!" Perhaps they were a little jealous of their other brethren. After all, it was their faithfulness to God against sin that got them named as priests. What did their loyalty get them really?

Sometimes we might feel that same way. We grow in God, we mature, we learn right from wrong, we stand up for God in situations, we allow ourselves to be used by Him and we give up lots of stuff others, even younger Christians, don't give up. And yet God still doesn't give us materially what we wish for. We are still struggling financially or with our health or relationships and we wonder why.

We need to take a lesson from the Levites. They got the better part of the bargain. Material things will waste away and will eventually burn. The best thing is knowing God personally and spending time in His presence. That's what heaven will be like.

So why not rejoice that you can come boldly into the throne room of God at any time; that you can worship Him and have Him inhabit your praises? Let God be your inheritance.

Pastor Tom