"Living In Greatness"

"Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side." (Psalms 71:21) I don't know about you, but sometimes I lose sight of the awesome thing that I have been made part of; not that I don't know what has been done for me, because I totally get that; but it's more about the greatness of God's plan for me in eternity with Him, more splendid than any one of us could ever imagine. I know the Bible is the bible when it comes to getting the answers we need, but for some answers we want, the Bible just leaves us wanting to know a little more. It is really not about knowing all the answers; God did not intend for us to know all the answers; in fact, He was pretty clear about Adam not eating of the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." There are just some things we are not meant to experience; and our God is a very good Father, who is really looking out for our very best interests. I think this is the part of our greatness that we tend to overlook the most. Not that we always do so intentionally, because I don't think we even realize how vulnerable we are to the devil's deceptions, because he really does have a way of making us feel good about bad choices. It is kind of like what we did as children, when our parents told us not to do something, we went ahead and did it anyways, thinking that they were just keeping us from doing something fun. That is the perfect example of something that is not great; the greatest thing we could have done, was to listen to our parents and obey. So it is with God! It is rather interesting what this word "comfort" actually means, because it surely is not talking about being all warm and fuzzy. It is really more about feeling sorry, with a little bit of pity, and a whole lot of grief. It is kind of like that closing Passage from yesterday, where it speaks of God wounding us, so that He can heal us; because we can't really appreciate God's goodness without experiencing His wrath, or know God's great mercy without fearing His holy judgment. This was the whole intention of the Law that God gave to Moses; it was to show us how far we fall short in every single area of our life. And when we think we are good, we really miss the mark even further than if we thought otherwise. That's what I meant about losing sight of God's awesome plan, because He knows exactly what I need, when I need it; He knows how far I can jump, how high I can climb, and how low I can go; that's the point of "comfort" on every side, because we are going to get a little bruised along the way... "I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts He has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. Through Him, God has enriched your church in every way - with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for He is faithful to do what He says, and He has invited you into partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:4-9) NLT