Treating God like an ATM

UV 1133/10,000 Don’t Treat God like an ATM
Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God and did not keep His testimonies.

Psalm 78 v 36

The Lord Most High is sovereign. He is compassionate. He is all powerful. He is loving. He is faithful. He is unseen. He is quick to forgive and slow to get angry. But once His anger is provoked, no one and nothing can restrain it. The Israelites under Moses had seen many mighty signs of deliverance that broke the yoke of Pharaoh. But it had not broken the yoke of satan- the attitude of doubt, disbelief and lack of gratitude and thanksgiving. When they were travelling throught the desert they complained that they did not have meat to eat for they were given manna. Even today we complain of our lack of many things when God has given us His heavenly manna- the Word as our daily bread to sustain our souls. This provokes and puts the anger of the Lord to test. What provoked the Lord is that people so easily forgot the mighty deeds He did on their behalf when they came face to face with relatively minor deficiencies or difficulties. It proved to Him that their faith and their hearts were not really focussed on Him. He hates it when people treat Him like an ATM.

Just like we have our testimonies, God has his testimonies of His faithfulness. When we do not remember these testimonies of His provision and His deliverance, we are doubting Him and indirectly calling Him a liar. Like David, we should remember that He who has brought us this far, will take us the whole way. Keeping our own testimony is another way of showing our faith. Keeping our testimonies implies that we should walk in faith and obedience and not allow our spiritual reputation to be tarnished. God ‘s testimonies in our lives is the narrative of how He kept His Word in our lives, how He fulfilled the promises we believed and claimed, how He answered our prayers and heard our cries.

In addition to counting our blessings, we ought to recount in our minds and cherish the testimonies of the Lord Most High in our lives- how He knit us in our mothers’ wombs, how He kept us safe in our childhood, how He provided and protected us, how He blessed us and raised us up as a witness for Him, how He dealt with our opposition, how He strengthened us and encouraged us. When we do this spiritual exercise, it will give us a perspective of faithfulness and strengthen and equip us to face the challenges of the moment or of the day, without a trace of regret, fear, doubt or despair.

Prateep V Philip