A life much brighter. =)

Knowing that the favour of God shines upon you, always.

When things do not turn out the way we want them to, do we get frustrated with ourselves and get frustrated with God? Do we walk away from the warm embrace of our heavenly Father? What do we do when we are frustrated?

Gen 12
¹ Now the LORD had said to Abram:
"Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father's house,
To a land that I will show you.
²I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
³I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

And so Abram enters the Promised Land. But...when he was there:

Gen 12
¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai (which also means "grace") his wife, "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. ¹²Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, "This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you."
***
How do we handle our frustrations? some people go clubbing; some drink till they go drunk; some watch korean vcds; some eat a lot; some take long walks by the beach; some blog. Some get so frustrated that they get bitter with God, and estranged from Him, thinking that He doesn't provide for them anymore.
***
Abram? There was famine in the promised land, a picture of lack of provision. What was his response to the lack of provision? Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, Egypt being a type of the world. He did this in spite of God's firm promise that He will bless all who bless him, and curse all who curses him. I mean, like, Abram was in the promised land! =) the land full of rest. And Abram did not have that revelation that God will provide for his every need. He returned to the world...to Egpyt. It's natural that when we are in the world, the tendency is for our flesh to be weak, and we compromise to the standards of the world. and what does the world give a picture of? Self-effort, earning what we desire. Abram compromises, and kicks Sarai = 'grace' away, choosing to embrace grace as a sister and not spouse.

But look at how gracious God is:

Gen12
¹⁴So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. ¹⁵The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. ¹⁶He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. ¹⁷But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. ¹⁸And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, "She is my sister'? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way." ²⁰So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
Gen 13
¹ Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. ²Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

Even when grace was put aside as a sister, God still blesses Abram for grace's sake. Wow. And plagues Pharoah with great plagues cos He is faithful to His promise (He will curse all who curses Abram). If God is for you, who can be against you? No one. And Abram returns to the promised land once again.

Through faith and patience, we inherit all the promises of God which are yes and amen. Surely, we have our health, healing, our riches, our deliverance, our results, our success, and peace. Surely. Because that was what Jesus came to give, the divine exchange made possible by that greatest love act. Surely, we receive. Only, believe.