Jessica Albritton, Family Connections Minister, LHBC
Psalm 139:1-6
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
If you know me at all you know I love amazon.com. I get everything from there, from shampoo and deodorant to Christmas decorations and bakeware. Anything and everything you can imagine you can find at your fingertips. And who doesn’t love 2 day free shipping?! There are even some products that offer overnight shipping. Another great thing that the site offers is “suggested for you” products. Based on recent purchases Amazon will send you suggested products to consider. I personally love these little suggestions and most of the time they are pretty spot on, however sometimes they are just bad… For instance, I got on the other day and my “suggested for you” was a retirement balloon party pack and maternity jeans… Now as a young single woman I was quite confused at that one. Oh well, it can’t be right about everything.
It’s pretty interesting how amazon comes up with their “suggested for you” products. It’s done through an ecommerce personalization strategy based on algorithms, search history, viewed web pages, app downloads, and situational contexts of users. It all plays a part in how products are populated and most of the time they are pretty accurate, however, like all computer programs, there are flaws in the system and sometimes you are looking at something suggested for you that is farthest from the truth.
I was thinking of “suggested for you” products the other day and had the thought, you know, sometimes God suggests things for me and I have the same response as I did for maternity pants and retirement balloons… There have been many times in my own life where I sense the Lord suggesting something for me yet I think, “No Lord, that’s not for me…” But the truth of the matter is God knows what is best for us better than we do. He knows because He created us. So often we think we know what is best for us, especially when going through something painful or when we are suffering. We want to call on Jesus and say, “Come here! I’m hurting and need you to fix it!” And while Jesus does want to heal and comfort us, He is far more concerned with healing our deepest longing and truest need, the need for a Savior. Sometimes the “suggested for you” things God has for us are not what we see as beneficial or applicable but we are assured all throughout scripture that God not only knows us intimately, He cares for us deeply. He is a good Father that gives good gifts to His children. Because of this truth we are free to trust God knowing even in the midst of our chaos and greatest pain we can be confident He knows our deepest needs and is faithful to fulfill them. We can trust that our Father in heaven is working all things for our good.
It’s hard to wrap our heads around the fact that in His infinite wisdom God does not simply erase our pain and brokenness, Instead He heals it by taking it upon Himself through the power of the cross. Friend, take heart today and know you are loved by a Father that knows you better than you know yourself. And not only does He know you, He knows what is best for you! He can be trusted! Will you trust His suggestions?
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Heavenly Father, You are so faithful and good! You know me so well and You desire good for me! Help me to trust You and Your goodness! Lead me to rely on You in all things, even if it may not make sense to me! In Jesus name, amen!
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
2 Samuel 7:22– 22
Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.