Open Your Mouth to Receive the Grace of the Lord
At a book signing on Friday for The Great Exchange: Bound by Blood, I met a precious gal who has been a Christian for just two years. When she was saved, she was delivered from 33 years of alcoholism and more recently freed from a 34-year addiction to nicotine.
However, her days are marred by an individual from her past that is intent on harming her. I don’t know details, but it led me to question, “What are believers suppose to do when someone is out to get them or when life seems overwhelming and no solution is obvious?”
I thought of David. He experienced something similar. Before he became king of Israel, Saul and his army sought to kill him. Later, David wrote, “I [God] am the Lord your God who brought you [Israel] out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it” (Ps. 81:10).
That tells us what to do.
As the One who delivered Israel from Egypt’s bondage, God freed them, guarded and guided them, and provided for their every need. He has not changed. He also brought David out of trouble, and He will do the same for us.
However, we do not stay the same. We change. We tend to forget that we need for God to guide, protect, and care for us. When we are in need, IF we will open our mouths wide, He will fill them. He will provide everything we need.
The thought of a wide-open mouth brings to mind the robins that nested outside our window. When the eggs hatched, the babies were hidden except for the wide-opened beaks thrusting above the nest every time the parents brought food.
Inside the nest were scrawny pieces of flesh that seemed too weak and helpless to hold beaks up. But instinctively, the baby bird knows it must open its beak to grow and survive.
We seem to lack that instinctive knowledge that in order to grow in the Lord and survive in this world, we are dependent on our Creator to fill us. Once a week isn’t sufficient. We need daily bread, throughout the day, just like baby birds.
As the parents brought food in, the babies didn’t wait for worms to dangle above them. They eagerly anticipated their food. I knew the parents were approaching because the beaks would open first.
Likewise, God tells us to “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 21). A key to staying within God’s bubble of protection and provision is waiting anxiously for Him, like baby birds waiting for food.
In a couple of weeks, the babies had grown enough that they left the nest. The parents stayed close and saw to their well-being for a few days, but they quickly learned to fend for themselves.
Like the fledglings, when we get out in the world, we need God nearby to guard over us. In many ways we can care for ourselves, but the analogy quickly breaks down.
Unlike the birds, we continue to need God’s help. Likewise, unlike the parent birds, God never leaves us. He is with us always and will continue to feed and rescue us from danger.
He is always ready to fill our mouths if we will only open them to Him. Indeed, He is grieved when we don’t and rewards us when we do.
In Psalms 81:8, God tells His people to hear Him and to listen to Him. In verse 10, He says “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” The next verses say, “But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me, so I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart” (v. 12).
That is not good new. When I don’t open my mouth–when I don’t seek His help–I could be given over to my stubbornness!
He continues, “Oh, that My people would listen to Me! . . . I would quickly subdue the
ir enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries” (vv. 13-14).
When we open our mouths by acknowledging our need for God, listening to His voice, and obeying Him, He will deliver us. He will turn against our adversaries and subdue them.
God has our backs. He is always there in His mercy, waiting to supply the wisdom, strength, and grace for whatever we face.
Instead of getting anxious about the challenges of the day, we need to be concerned about whether or not we live with our mouths open to receive His grace and mercy.