Psalm 81:10 I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

Ever since I heard the story, I can’t read this verse without thinking of the Christian dentist who had the second half of this verse up on his wall! However, that’s a bit of a distraction from what the Lord is actually saying here. He is reminding the people of what He did for them and their ancestors in the past, providing for their every need, and then He’s saying that He will do it again. I get the image of baby birds with beaks wide open as their parents fly to the next with food. In the final analysis, we are as helpless as baby birds without the support and supply of our heavenly Father. However, we don’t like to acknowledge that, as the next two verses speak of. God’s plans are always good, but we tend to be headstrong and not want to listen. That attitude brings troubles on us that God never intended and doesn’t desire, but we turn around and blame those troubles on God! Verses 13-14 are God’s cry, His sorrow, at what happens to his stubborn children. We often refuse to recognize that actions have consequences, but that doesn’t change those consequences. That’s why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news indeed: God has provided a way out of the hole we have dug for ourselves by our own stubborn disobedience and rebellion.

This is of course the message that I preach, and I preach it from experience. It’s interesting to think about how smooth my life might have been had I stayed humbly obedient to God from childhood! However, I can’t change the past, and that fact is one of the lessons of life. That said, it is a glorious truth that God will take everything that is truly submitted to Him and use it for good, even when the thing itself wasn’t good at the outset. (Romans 8:28) God isn’t limited by what we have been, He wants repentance and obedience now, so that what will be may be what He desires for us, which is good indeed. There are many mysteries in life, including genetic disorders and the like, but when those who are affected by them turn them over to God in trust, He can and does use even things that are tragic in themselves for blessing.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Yesterday I interacted with three different families with young children, two of which have genetic problems. I cannot fix those problems, but I can comfort and encourage the families and be a channel of Your love and grace to them. I pray that Your perfect will would be done for each family, as a testimony of Your love and grace, drawing everyone involved into faith/ deeper faith in You, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!