Imagine that the government has predicted a long term food shortage and you must collect enough food to last you the next few years. You run out to Walmart and buy as much food as you can before every shelf becomes emptied by frantic shoppers.
Once your collection is complete, you store it away in a safe place and ration out a few servings for each day. I mean, that would make the most sense, wouldn't it? But what if you weren't that responsible? What if the collection was just too tempting and you ate it all in the same night? Not only would you risk death by overeating, but you would be left with nothing to eat for the next few years. Your impatience and desperation for fulfillment would leave you faced with consequences.
This is the same thing that happens in our spiritual lives -- the combination of our impatience toward God's plan and our desperation for what the devil offers leads us down a narrow path filled with disappointment, sorrow, and uncertainty.
Faithfully pursuing God's plan is like the first scenario where food is responsibly rationed out for each day. God's plan requires patience, but it proves that there is goodness in every day. It shows us that no matter what we need, there is always enough. Just like the food rations, God's plan offers exactly what we need and as our bodies are nourished (physically or spiritually), we begin to grow stronger.
And although the idea of always being cared for and having what you need is intriguing, many people are turned off because of one thing -- doubt. The doubt that makes them question if they're really getting the best option. I mean, what if the devil can offer something better? What if God is just holding out on us?
Perhaps that's a good question. There's a good chance that what the devil offers you will look a lot more intriguing than what God has in store for you. Why? Because God saves the best for last, while the devil will offer you the best first. Wow, so I guess God is holding out on us, right? Not a chance.
Here's the thing. Satan may offer us the best first, (and I use the term "best" very lightly because certainly, the things that Satan offers are in no way what is best for us), but that is as good as it gets. His goal is to convince us otherwise -- that what he's offering is only a taste and the best is yet to come.
But that is a lie. In truth, we've already accepted the "best" and all that is to come are the consequences. The devil knows how to intrigue us with sin, but sin will only lead to more sin -- it will never lead to good. Not unless God is involved.
Just like eating a few years worth of food rations in one night, after the fulfillment, comes emptiness. The point where there is nothing left. No more food for your nourishment and no more good that the devil can offer you.
Now I can't control how much leeway you give the devil in your life, but I have called the devil out on his schemes. And hopefully, I've proved to you that no matter how great a bundle the devil offers, it will not get better. Sin is only fun for a season, then comes the fallout.
That is a kind of service that only God can offer. You must be faithful and trust that there is goodness even when you don't see it yet. Perhaps it will be small at the beginning, but everyday, it will grow into something better.
"Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!" Psalms 66:5
