My God

What does it take for the creator of the universe to become My God?

When I was growing up, I remember people talking to large groups of us, and sharing their journey of faith, usually with horrible tales of drugs and sex.  They generally concluded with the sentiment that after all of that, they realized that God was the only one who could save them, turned to him, and were completely committed to his kingdom.  These were beautiful accounts of God reaching down and meeting people where they are and bringing them out of the muck and mire.

What about me?  How would Jehovah, the Almighty One, become My God?  I wondered if I would just wait around and slip into the pit, then I would have a story to tell.  Then I could legitimize my faith.  Then I could prove to people that he was My God. Where is my story of shock and awe?  Would I ever have a faith that had merit?  A faith worth sharing?

Do you remember the movie, Ghost?  When someone died, they either were pulled down into the earth by a black cloud or lifted into the air by the light.  It was pretty easy to tell what would happen to each person before they died depending on whether or not you liked their character.  If you liked them, they went to the light, if you didn’t, they went to the dark.

That’s not how it works…We all deserve the black cloud.  No one can be saved except by the blood of Jesus.  I am a mess of sin without his saving blood, his saving grace.

In Genesis 28, Jacob has a dream of a stairway to heaven.  Angels are ascending and descending from heaven.  God is at the top.  God tells Jacob that he will bless him, make his descendants numerous, and be with him wherever he goes.  When he awakens, Jacob says, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear ²¹ so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.

I haven’t had a vision, or a specific blessing about my offspring, but everything I have, from the clothes I wear to the food I eat to the house in which I live, comes from God.  I have been given this promise,

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Matthew 6:31-32

and

“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”^{[a] 6}So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?” Heb. 13:5-6

Jacob announced that the God that had been Abraham’s God and Isaac’s God, was now his God.  Jacob would depend on God for everything he needed – safety, shelter, food, clothes.

My God supplies my every need.  He is my God.  He will never leave me or forsake me.  All that I have is his and comes from his outstretched hand.

He is my God.