Encouragement Page
21 August 2005

What would you consider as good service in a restaurant? It would probably be one that serves your needs and pays attention to minute details. Your award of a credit would be proportional to the crowd. You will be impressed if your needs are taken care of in a crowded restaurant. Now imagine in a crowd of 6 billion people (estimate of the world population) your individual needs and attention to the finest details are met, how would you assess the service?  This idea of how good a God who tends to us in this populated world was the theme of King David’s public prayer.  This is recorded for us in 1 Chronicles.  What a prayer!

David had all the money and means to build the house of God but the honour was given to Solomon.  King David made a thanksgiving offering with a remarkable prayer. Look at his opening statement.  “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all” (1 Chron 29:11).

David the great king praised God’s name and thanked Him for all the blessings. In human terms, God is very busy. He has to govern the universe, the weather, all things around us, both unseen and seen, the animals and yet He has time for us. He knows our every need down to the finest details that we may not even know (do you know in detail how your own body works?). Yet He has time to hear our prayers. Some may pray for rain while another may pray for sunshine. We can never comprehend how anyone can hear countless prayer requests and yet answers each one!

David acknowledged that our finite mind can never fathom the Almighty God. This prompted him to ask in gratitude. “Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee” (1 Chron 29:13–14).

Of all the people of the world, God blessed David with gifts and spiritual understanding. There is nothing that we can claim to be our own. God gave us everything — our body, intellect, material blessings and all that we have. David rightly prayed that we should offer willingly our all as they are God’s. However He deems it good to let us use the talents and resources placed at our disposal. If we honestly reflect upon this we have no complaints about what portion or lot we have or how much we are doing for the Lord.

God allowed the Israelites to roam in the wilderness for forty years due to their disobedience. Are we better than those Israelites? The majority of our population is stiff necked who refused to believe in God’s word and His teachings. Some are hostile towards Christianity or use their own interpretation to adulterate the Bible. What is taught in our school is evolution which is anti God. What did God do? He blesses us with forty years of prosperity, peace and happiness as a nation. As we look back can we not see the mercy and grace of God?  What is your response to His goodness?  Is anything that you are doing too much?  If God were to deal with us according to our sins, we will be gone forever!  “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him” (Ps 103:10–11).

This is my response.  By His grace and mercy, I am blessed, so teach me Lord to respond that I will have fellowship with Thee in gratitude and love.  He answers my prayer requests no matter how small.  Who am I that He deems fit to bless and extend grace with mercy.  I am but one of the six billion people on the face of this planet.  I do not even try or attempt to find out how He does it all but I simply trust Him and accept that He is the Almighty God.  Crowded as it may be, the “service” from God is beyond comparison. What is my service level for Him?  I will try my best asking Him to give me strength and wisdom to perform as I am sure He loves me more than enough to do that.  He is my God!

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