Deuteronomy 16:15
“Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful”.
The beautiful pattern. That’s what this is. When we yield to God, follow His instructions and worship Him, He blesses us, makes our work fruitful and fills us with joy.
It takes a while to learn this. We have difficulty with yielding to Him. We are a willful people. God gave instructions in worship. They were to worship at the place The Lord chose.
Cain and Abel gave their sacrifices. For some reason Abel’s was acceptable. We believe Abel’s was pleasing because it was an animal sacrifice while Cain’s was vegetables. Cain was saddened. We give ourselves much grief when we are willful. We need to give up control and yield to Him.
When we give up control we are happier. The world doesn’t see this. Frank Sinatra sang, “I did it my way”. The world celebrates this independence. It’s like someone who demands to use a product in a manner other than it was intended. Some results will be present, but there will be frustration.
Our level of joy (or frustration) is directly proportional to our level of surrender to God. If we are in a bad place and it’s been that way for a while, it may be for this reason. We should check our selves. Check in with God in prayer. “Lord, am I creating my own misery by my stubbornness?”
When we yield to Him, we in concert with Him. We go throughout our day and feel resistance in a particular area. We should check in with Him and ourselves and see if we need adjusting. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. He honors that with productivity, joy and good relationships. This is the beautiful pattern. He wants to bless us. Relying on Him and trusting Him is very pleases Him. He wants to give us those “atta boy”‘s and “atta girl”‘s. By asking Him and yielding we give Him those opportunities.
Lord, thank You for this beautiful pattern. Thank You that You love us and want to bless us. Help us to yield to You.