It's two chapters full of some amazing promises for our lives that we may not always take advantage of. There's a lot in this passage so for all of you who read it, you'll get something different out of it (don't worry, thats the Holy Spirit working). The thing that stood out to me is that about 4 times in Jesus' monologue he offers this promise, "Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it." (John 14:14, 15:7, 15:16, 16:24).
In the study that led me to this passage, I was challenged to take these promises literally. However, I think we all know this isn't an open ATM. We can't just ask for and get whatever we want right? Isn't that the literal translation? The reason we know this isn't true is the same reason we have difficulty in putting our confidence in these promises - we've tried them and they don't work. Well, at least they don't work how we think they should work. We've asked God for things that are noble & spiritual things yet we haven't seen the results we desired. We've asked God to heal loved ones, deliver us from financial problems, mend relationships but sometimes these things don't happen. How does that line up with "You may ask anything in my name and I will give it to you"?
Well, let me confess - I'm not here to answer that question. I'm not qualified. This is one of those tough passages that quite honestly is hard to deal with. God is mysterious and doesn't necessarily require that we figure Him out. We can, however, begin to deal with this issue by understanding some very fundamental truths.
God's will is perfect. It's perfect because it's His. We cannot receive anything from Him that is also not subject to His will. (1 John 2:17)
God is good and worthy of our trust. No matter the circumstance, He has our best interest at heart. (John 14:1)
Today, let's be encouraged by what God has promised. Although it may be difficult to understand His reasoning, let's worship Him for that instead of causing it to draw us away from Him. Let the fact that He's mysterious, that His ways aren't our ways, that He's unsearchable, His way unfathomable....let these facts cause us to worship Him and seek to learn more about Him. It's issues like these that ought to drive us further into study and learning about this wonderful God.
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