Windows

In His Name Devotionals
WINDOWS

“...I will open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10 NKJV)

God also issued a challenge “...try it, let me prove it to you.” Why had God found it necessary to rebuke His people on this occasion and remind them of their duty and His promise? The exchange had gone something like this: “You are robbing me,” God told them. “What on earth are you talking about, Lord?” they asked.

“If you don’t bring the sacrifices that I commanded and give me what I deserve, then I consider it robbery and won’t stand for it!”

“Why, we thought that we were doing what you wanted.”

Can’t you just hear the excuses? “...Lord, can’t you give me a break this week? I’ve got a donkey payment due” or “...This extravagant wife that you gave me bought two pairs of sandals in one week” or “...My tent owner’s insurance came due” or “...I took the family to the Hard-Rock Bazaar for dinner last night, and you know how expensive that is.”

Try paying your taxes the same way you serve God and see if you get away with it or as God actually said, “Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” (Milachi 1:8).

God left this story for us for a reason. He went further than just animal sacrifices and demanded “...You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind” (Luke 10:27). He said it a different way in Romans 12:1, “...Present your bodies as a living sacrifice...” As he did with the people in Malachi, He made us a promise, “...Don’t worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes...” (Matthew 6:25) and then He makes the promise in verse 26, “...God will provide.”

The problem is that I am just like the people depicted in Malachi. I’m short on faith and long on doing things my way, even in service to God.

There is a small needlepoint motto hanging by our back kitchen door, my wife’s first and only attempt at this craft. It says, “When God closes a door, He opens a window.” For many years now it has been my constant reminder to stop trying to kick down doors on my own and ask God to show me His window.

“God, help me to truly seek to do your will and not my will—in Your name!”