Burt Reynolds isn’t one of my favorite actors, but I do remember him in a movie called, “The End.”  When things started spinning out of control for his character, he began a negotiation with God – promising to give a certain percentage of his income to the church if He would be relieved of his problems.  It was a funny bit, but held a grain of truth.  How often do we bargain with God?

Maybe your life is on a downward spiral – you may have been unemployed for a long time – you may be in a difficult relationship – your checkbook has a negative balance – your body is showing definite signs of aging – you may even be facing a terminal disease.

The devil likes to work on those times when we struggle to make us think that God doesn’t like us anymore.  He tries to fill us with so much guilt or pain that we don’t think we’re worthy of God’s love.

The truth is that none of us is worthy to face the Almighty.  When the Bible says Jesus came to save the sick, He wasn’t referring to a specific group of people.  He was talking about all of humanity.  We are all sick – sin sick – and have fallen short of the glory of God.  Anything we say or do will never be sufficient to pay the price for what lies behind the door.  We can’t make deals with God, because He has already taken care of it for us.

That’s a hard concept for our human minds to grasp.  We naturally feel we have to do something to earn our way and Satan uses that idea to make us lose faith.  We want to be in control and God tells us clearly that He is.  He is, was and always will be.  It’s so simple and yet so hard for us to let go and let God do what He does so well.