Day Four | Lent Devotional
Reading: Luke 3, Psalm 37:3
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good…
I love the order of these instructions in Psalm 37:3. Trust always goes before performance. Religion is focused on doing good things to achieve status with God. It demands good deeds to prove your faith. The idea is that if you do enough good deeds, you’ll eventually find peace. But in God’s mind, this is backward. Faith in God is always first. This alone brings inner peace. Only once we have placed our trust in God can we clearly see the good things He has planned for us to achieve.
Often we are tempted to respond to evil by responding in the flesh. Many Christians today fight the devil by fighting culture, fighting the world, fighting those who oppress us. We get worked up about social injustice, political oppression, and the moral depravity invading every sector of the world around us. I get it. Passivity is never an appropriate response to evil. But God’s prescription for the believer is never to fight with flesh and blood. The Lord’s strategy is for His people to trust Him and DO GOOD.
Doing good is a powerful way to respond to the work of darkness in the world around us. Jesus taught that when people hate us, use us, and persecute us, our response should be to pray for them, bless them, and find a way to do something good for them! (Matt. 5:44). Paul said, “Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good!” (Romans 12:21). What are the good things that are in your power to do today?
Begin your prayer time by asking the Lord to show you good things you can do today to bring more light into the world. He might show you someone to call or text and tell them you love them and are thinking of them. He might have you share a scripture with someone battling sickness. He might tell you to pay for the meal of the car behind you in the drive-through or to leave some groceries on the doorstep of someone struggling. This is certain: if you ask Him, He will show you the good He wants you to do. And the world will be a little brighter because you obeyed Him.
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