(3 minute read) Jordan and Courtney were feeling so blessed. They have a wonderful family and they have no want for anything. Life could not be any better. Jordan said, “It is so wonderful to know that my Lord and Creator is on my side.” “How do you know that the Lord is on your side?” Courtney interjected. Jordan began to list all the good things in their lives, like their health, their home, the cars they drive and ended by saying, “why then are we so blessed if the Lord is not on our side?”

“If the Lord is on your side then the Lord must be against some other side!” Courtney had a ‘you know I am correct look’ on her face as she said that.

“You know what I mean…”, Jordan exclaimed with a bit of frustration, and continued “how about if I said the Lord and Creator is ‘For me’, instead of ‘on my side’?”

“If the Creator is ‘For you’ then still, the creator is ‘against’ someone else, and you know that the Lord does not pick and choose between the children the Creator created”, was Courtney’s response.

The frustration on Jordan’s face was very evident when he said, “then how would you describe what we have? And are you saying that it is not the Lord that is giving us so much?”

Courtney had a gentle and loving expression as she took a step or two towards Jordan and proceeded to explain. My dear dear Jordan, I believe that most people of faith have the notion that the Lord is on their side or for them. In many cases they base that feeling on the blessings they have. Therefore, when things go a bit or a lot badly, they seek the Lord for improving their situation. Although there is nothing wrong with that, it confines the relationship from the believer to the Creator to a ‘give and take’ transactional relationship. Not a life the Creator hopes for, I believe.

All believers know that the Lord knows in advance what will and will not happen, and who will have, whether it is health or fortune, and who will not.

So there are lots that have been casted, decided and put in place. No one knows nor will ever know why. So the blessings we have happen to be our lot in life. Not because the Lord and Creator is on our side or is For us.

Courtney took another step closer, placed her palm on Jordan’s cheek ever so gently, and with her head titled just a bit said, “One thing is for sure my dear Jordan. The Lord and Creator is ‘WITH US’ as WITH every single person the Lord created. This ‘WITH US’ is true whether we are good or bad, whether we are following or not following. It is REGARDLESS of anything said or done. This ‘WITH US’ is the grace the LORD offers us, always and without end.”

 

As a believer dwells on the ‘WITH ME’ and ‘IN ME’, and forgets what I have or do not have, the more the relationship from the believer to the Creator is a transformational relationship instead of a transactional relationship. That my friend is the relationship that our Lord and Creator hopes for.

So yes be THANKFUL and ever so THANKFUL for the Lord being WITH you ALWAYS and till the end of time.