More or Less?

Do you remember the story of the prophet Nathan coming to confront David in his sin after his affair with Bathsheba? David not only had a calculated affair with Bathsheba but she became pregnant as a result. As if that wasn’t enough obvious sin for him to commit, he then elaborately schemed to have her husband killed while her husband was on the battlefield. In a series of bad moves David fixed his own problems without any consultation with God.

There are obviously so many lessons here. But what I want to share is a scripture that continues to ring in my heart long after I’ve closed the Book on these passages. When Nathan came to David he told him a story to give David an opportunity to recognize himself in the story and repent. Probably because David was so far away from God at the time he didn’t even see himself in the narrative but instead judged the man in the story harshly. You know how it goes from there… Nathan says to David, “YOU are the man!” Nathan continues in his Holy Spirit-inspired reproof listing out the ways God had supernaturally taken care of David. “I anointed you king, I saved you from Saul, I gave you his house, I gave you the kingdoms…”.

God goes on to say to David, “… and if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.” II Sam 12:8

These are the words that keep coming up in my heart as I go about my days recently. “… and if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.” I am so moved by these few words that describe so perfectly the heart of my Heavenly Father. “…and if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.”

It is His heart for me AND for every one of his children.

I’m asking myself (and God) what is the much, much more I’m missing in my life as a result of doing things my own way, my own calculating, my own planning? Are there places in my heart, things in my life where I am in such a rut of controlling things a certain comfortable way that I don’t even recognize You when you are getting every answer to me and I just don’t see it? For me, like King David, if I’ll look at what I judge harshly in others I can usually find where my own faults lie. And like King David, I miss out on the "much, much more" by refusing to lay parts of me at the feet of Jesus and by holding on to them I settle for so much less.

What about you? Maybe you can't even recognize God when he sends help because of stubbornly doing life your own way? Are there places in your heart God wants to fill with more but maybe you don’t even see the obvious?