“The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
Psalm 92:12-15
I’ve been encountering some continual frustration lately. There’s an area in which I feel like I’m not seeing a need met. I pray for God’s provision, and while I see small things trickle in, it doesn’t appear to be enough to fill the need I’m looking at. And each time something happens and an expected provision falls through (which has been happening far too often for my comfort), frustration hits and I look to Him with, “Again?? When are You going to show up here?” And discouragement threatens to take hold.
But I know my God provides. I know He does. He sees the need, and He will meet it in perfect timing. Of course He will. He promises to do so. I know He led me to this place, and He’ll see me through.
This was the basic discussion I had with a friend last night. And my faith started to take hold again…until he spoke stronger words of encouragement, to point me to the reality that our God is able to provide abundantly more than what we might expect. That He could start pouring out provision to go above and beyond, meeting the need and then some. I know what this friend said is true, that it holds with Scripture. But oh, how my faith struggled to really grab onto that. To really believe it and not allow the past (however recent) to dictate how I perceive future possibilities.
Then this morning, as I prayed through all of this, God opened my eyes to something I hadn’t seen before: He is meeting my need. It’s just a different need than the one I’ve been seeing.
Apparently there is a need in me for the strengthening of my faith through these challenges. And that need is greater than the other. That need must be met first. And so my God is being faithful to provide.
Oh, see His great love for us in this! Our God is an immeasurably faithful provider! He is faithful to see our needs and meet them, and will not allow a need to go unmet – whether we can see those needs or not. I don’t know why this other need is greater in this moment. But my God does. He can see far more than I. There is purpose here, and it is good.
These verses in Psalm 92 struck me with a truth the other day that I believe it fits perfectly in light of this focus, as we contemplate the faithful provision of our God who knows and meets all of our needs. It is this:
Whatever our lives hold, we will flourish.
Because our God has deemed it so.
The paths we walk will be difficult at times, but these difficulties will not defeat us. On the contrary, they will only contribute to our further growth, glory, and strengthening. They will add to our flourishing in the courts of our God. They will be God’s provision to meet our needs – those needs we don’t see. But needs that are vital, nonetheless. Needs that, if left unmet, would break us down and cause us to miss out on the beautiful abundant life God wants for His children. A life in which we flourish.
Isn’t that a beautiful picture? One that conveys a beauty that just overflows. A life that brings such glory to God, because it’s so obvious how thoroughly He met our needs – and went above and beyond what would be minimally required. This is the picture of filling our cup to overflowing.
Our God doesn’t do the minimum. He is so much bigger than that, and His love for us is so much greater. We will see Him come through, meeting needs we weren’t even aware of. So that we will not just walk through life, but will flourish. Because He is just that faithful. And through all the decades of our mortal lives – however long we’re here – we will be able to declare the uprightness of our Lord, that He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
In Pleasant Places 