Bargaining With God

   I heard a movie star, whom I will not identify; tell a story about something that happened in his life. He was on a plane and it was quickly losing altitude and it looked like the plane was going to crash. Thinking that he might die, the actor started to bargain with God. He told the Lord that if He saved his life he would give God fifty percent of everything he owned. Suddenly the plane gained altitude and the actor brought the amount down to forty, thirty, twenty, and then ten percent as the plane went up. When the plane recovered, the actor convinced himself that God didn’t have anything to do with his life being spared and he never kept his bargain with the Lord. Everyone in the audience laughed.

   When I hear about a person bargaining with God, I want to laugh. God owns everything and He is the King of the world. He has everything to offer and we have nothing to offer God.  It is like a pauper trying to make a deal with a prince. It doesn’t work that way and God doesn’t work that way. God answers prayer, not because he owes us or can be enticed to make a deal, but He answers prayer by grace because He loves us.

   For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me (Psalm 50: 10, 12, 14-15).

God Bless

Christine