Content in El Shaddai

How much do you know about this specific name of God? It is a wonderful thing to know the Lord by his name. The Lord has many names and each one describes His nature. Let me give you a little bit of insight into this specific name.

El Shaddai is translated God Almighty or God All Sufficient.

Only a powerful God could give us what we need. We try and we try to do things on our own but we always come up short of what we seek. How glorious is it that we can look unto God to provide the love we so desire.

As the Psalmist so beautifully put it;

"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10" (NIV)

When we seek God we come to know His name, in in a name is a characteristic. We find that God is sufficient for us. We do not have to go day by day worrying about what is going to happen to us, for the Lord will sustain us and be enough for us.

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Psalm 105:1" (NIV)

Despite our circumstances we can always look to God and praise Him for loving us. Being content in El Shaddai. Now I'm not saying that God will pull you from the valley, but that he will walk with you and carry you through it all. In Him will He bring you through the trials.

Jesus did not promise us no hardships, but that we daily pick up our cross and follow after Him. How wonderful then, that we can call upon El Shaddai to be enough for us. To be content in the Lord for we know His way is better than our way.

I recently read, "Don't let your circumstances influence your contentment, but let your contentment influence your circumstances" from The Daily Verse. As the Lord refines us in His fire we come to know that His love for us is the greatest thing. For in love he gave us His one and only Son Jesus to die in our place to reconcile us back to the father.

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I'm learning a lot about not letting my circumstances affect my content in the Lord. As of right now, I'm sitting in the Dallas airport waiting on my flight to Oklahoma City. I'm supposed to be going to a school for piece of gear that is to be installed on my ship later this year. The problem is, the ship has not paid for the school yet and it starts tomorrow and my ship is currently underway.

What I do know is that I need to put my trust in God and keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. A few years back if this were to happen I would probably be freaking out right now. But the Lord has brought me a long way and through Him I have strength in these difficult times.

I wholeheartedly believe when the Lord says in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you." Declares the Lord. "Plans not to harm you but to give you a hope and a future."

I've been going through a difficult period in my time in the Navy but I need to trust in Him to carry me through it because I cannot do it on my own.

I hope that as the Lord walks with me, through me will He shine forth light to glorify Himself.