Are you trying to bargain with God?

Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas

Author

Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas

Summary: We should not try to negotiate with God or make promises in exchange for His blessings. Instead, we should trust in His providence and remember three spiritual truths: we must seek forgiveness daily, Christ is our King and Lord, and eternal life is a gift offered in exchange for our surrender and obedience. We should also repair our sacrificial altar, remember the times God has manifested His power, and light our altar of prayer. By seeking God with all our heart, we can live a life of victory in Christ.

In moments of despair, when the test makes a triumphal entry into our existence, we desperately cry out to God, we beg for his blessings, his divine intervention for the solution of the problem we are going through, we kneel, and we even make promises in exchange for his favors as if God were a businessman, a God who conditions his blessings on what we can offer or plead with him. In the eyes of our creator, nothing we do or say could satisfy the expectations of a holy God who offers us mercy and above all infinite grace even though we do not deserve it. To experience a life of victory in Christ, it is not necessary for us to seat our God on the bench of barter, of exchange. If you give me this, I give you this other. If you grant me what I am asking of you, then I will try to fulfill my Christian obligations and duties.

Many of the frustrations that come to the life of the believer are based on their excessive unbelief and although it seems a paradox, even being believers, sometimes we behave as unbelievers because we do not trust the providence of God. There are some truths that the believer must know if he wants to live in victory in Christ:

  1. Although Christ forgave all our sins if we repent of all our rebellions, we must live such an intimate relationship with our creator that allows us to get right with him every day, because not every day we are so holy that we meet the expectations of a God who is.

  2. Christ is in your life, He is King and Lord and you no longer belong but to Him, who bought your freedom at the price of His blood and

  3. Eternal life is the gift that He offers you in exchange only for your surrender, your obedience and submission.

When we forget these three spiritual truths we can fall into the sin of trying to negotiate with God as if we were no longer more than blessed by his mercies "which are renewed every morning."

The truth is that we are forgetful with no reason to be. In ancient times, our brothers of the faith, built altars to God that were as permanent reminders so that His people would never forget that He had manifested himself with power in a certain situation. When Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel, before crying out to God to manifest his power in the eyes of idolaters, the first thing he did was fix the ruined altar of the Lord. (1 Kings 18: 30-32) and with 12 stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he prayed and we already know the end of this story. Elías is exhorting us now, at this very moment, to reconsider and not forget certain things:

  • If your sacrificial altar (your heart, your devotion, your prayer, your dedication and obedience) is ruined, repair it! That way, you will never have to negotiate His blessings with God, nor will you cry out for more than He can give you.

  • If your altar of memory has led you to despair, be serious about getting right with God every day so that you will not forget the many times that he has manifested himself with power and sent fire. consumer of his Spirit who has put your enemies, your trials, your torments and doubts at bay.

  • If your altar of prayer is not lit, light it! He will fill your lamps with new oils of grace and mercy so that you cry out in the bad day, but also when you enjoy his anointing.

Do not negotiate with God, but seek Him with all your heart! God bless you!