All He Wants

Hey there, friends! Welcome back to Turning Heads Blog, an online space for women to come together and grow in their relationship with God through honest conversations about living faithfully. I’m so glad that you’re here! Today’s message was inspired by an experience I had during my quiet time, with the ”Pray through the Bible in a Year Devotional” by Darlene Franklin.

Following the devotional, I found myself in Numbers 7 of the Old Testament. Let’s set the scene: in this chapter, the leaders of Israel were presenting offerings to the Lord before the tabernacle. Their gifts to God were filled with abundance: hundreds of shekels, their best gold dishes, the finest flours and oils, and dozens of animals.

It left me to wonder: if I lived in that world, would I offer to God the best of all that I owned? Do I sacrifice my all, right now, to my King and my Creator? I considered my life, and every time I have fallen short: the long stretches of time between prayer, the inconsistent Bible readings and weeks of unpublished blog posts. How could I ever be enough for the King of the universe?

Troubled, I prayed over my heart, telling God how terrible I felt. Continuing on with the devotional, I was led to read Psalm 50. In verses 8-15, the Lord spoke to my heart.

”I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and every cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” - Psalm 50: 8-15

Reading these words, I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Yes, He is our King. Yes, He did die for us - but that doesn’t mean we’re horrible believers if we don’t present Him with burnt offerings or read our Bibles every single day. There is nothing we could give God that He doesn’t already have. All He wants is that we pray to Him, thanking Him for all He has done for us and talking to Him like a friend throughout the day. He wants us to fulfill our promises to Him, accomplishing the purpose to which He has called us. He wants us to trust Him, to call on him when times are tough for deliverance and peace. The Lord promises to save us, as He has done before and will do again, as long as we honor Him with our lives and the time He has given us.

Ladies, let’s pray: God, our Father and our King, thank you for all that you have done for us in our lives. Thank you for the fact that, though You not only created us but died for us, You don’t ask for more than we can handle. You know our capablilites and although we owe You more than words can describe, You have mercy. Thank you, Jesus, for all that You have and will continue to do for us in our lives, even as we fall short. Praise to the Lord, the Most High! In Jesus’ name, amen.