Chapter 5: El Shaddai - The All-Sufficient One

I'm so glad that you decided to open this blog!  It is not by accident that you opened a blog or a link about an All-Sufficient God!  God has some amazing things to reveal about Himself today in this Chapter Summary on El Shaddai - the All-Sufficient God.  Please be diligent to read to the end of this summary.

Before we get started - I want to encourage you to read Genesis 17:1-3

I don't know what trials or experiences you are facing as you read this today - but I would imagine that most of us could say that we have or are facing the impossible!

Think about this with me for just a moment...

What will it take to relieve your anxiety?

(we all have areas that keep us from sleeping)

How much is enough?

(enough what?  money, security, friends, acceptance, etc)

I want to share with you today - that God is the answer to both of the questions above!

God is enough.  He is sufficient for ALL your needs!

There are wonderful promises in the Bible.  Like the one found in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."  Or like Philippians 4:6, "Be anxious for nothing."

Can these really be true in your life - or are they just words on a page that sound good.  Can they REALLY be true in our lives?!  With a resounding YES - I want to scream!

Share with us if you have experienced how God is truly enough and how He can relieve your anxiety.

Kay shares with us the Greek meaning of this name for God - El Shaddai.  As we have studied in previous chapters the "El" means mighty and powerful.  So what about the Shaddai part.  It has been widely accepted that Shaddai comes from another Hebrew word - Shad - which means to nourish or supply.  As a  woman this has an even more personal meaning and/or understanding.  The Hebrew word Shad actually means The Pourer or the Shedder forth.  It also has a meaning of "breasted".

So to put these all together we have a God would supplies all of our nourishment by pouring Himself out for His creatures.  He sheds forth His Spirit upon us and actually dwells within us.

There is nothing more beautiful and comforting knowing that as a baby cries a mother can provide for this little one from her very being!  I know it paints a strange picture - but this is where we get "all-sufficient" - He can provide for everything that we may be hungering for and need.

The thing that I want you to understand from this chapter is not only can He provide for our needs - but He provides in situations that seem impossible!

Look at the verses from Genesis again.  This is the first time we see God revealed as El Shaddai - to Abram as he turns 99 years old and again is reminded that he will father a son from Sarai - who is 89 years old.  Are you kidding me?!  Really?!  This can really still happen?!  Yes!  With God as their El Shaddai - God Almighty - God makes a way from who He is in areas that seem impossible!

Just look at what He did for Abraham & Sarah...  El Shaddai brought fruit to an empty & very old womb.   Do you have areas that seem impossible to you?  Areas where you're sure they are just hopeless - even for God?

So finally I ask you - if God can move and work with the impossibles and make them possibles and fruitful - what's the catch?  In other words - what is required of me?  Is there something I must do first?

YES!

I see three things that put us in the right position to see God move in our areas of impossibilities.

1.  Take this message as a warning.  

We will never accomplish for God His plan as long as we are still doing things our way.

Don't use prayer as your last resort!

2.  We must be ready to take a posture of positive surrender!

Be willing to let go and let God.  Don't do this grudgingly!

3.  Be willing to wait!

Wait!  Really?!  

Abraham & Sarah had to wait for God's timing and so must we!

Today, in the comments section, share with us how you have experienced God as your El Shaddai - how He provided in ways that seemed impossible to you.  If you have not experienced God as your El Shaddai, share with us how you will begin to let go & let God take control of those areas that give you anxiety.

I love you all dearly and am so very proud that you are still studying God's Word with me!

Your sis in the faith,

pen

Chapter 4: El Roi - The God Who Sees

I'm so proud of you in your faithfulness to this study!  I know it must take a lot of discipline to go through a study at home and attend ONLINE, rather than going a meeting a group of ladies.  While, yes, it may be easier to cozy up to your computer with a cup of coffee, your Bible, and your book - it does indeed take discipline to read and study.  I know this to be true & I applaud your faithfulness!

I know as a result God is going to show you great & mighty things that will bring healing, comfort and power to your life.

In this chapter (Chapter 4) we see God as El Roi - The God Who Sees.  I hope you have taken the time to read this short chapter - it was amazing!  But if you are following this blog only I want to give you some background information.

The first time in scripture where we see El Roi mentioned is in Genesis 16.  Please take a moment to go and read this very short chapter.  It is a familiar story about Sarai (her name has not yet been changed to Sarah) & Hagar.

In Genesis Chapter 16, we see where Sarai, couldn't wait for God to fulfill His promise of her having a son, so she sends Hagar to her husband Abram in the hopes that she can have a son through her.  I just wrote in the margins of my Bible, "WOW!" when I read that Abram took Hagar as his wife.  I know times were different then, but SERIOUSLY!  What was Sarai thinking?  As my husband calls it, I think this was some kind of "stinkin' thinkin'!"

Hagar does get pregnant and does indeed have a son.  Good news right?  Wrong!  As a result, the women treated each other harshly (interesting isn't it... when we get ahead of God and go our own way, discord begins to happen!).   Eventually Hagar just can't take it anymore and she runs away (literally).

The Lord finds Hagar in the wilderness, by a spring and reveals Himself to her as El Roi - the God Who Sees all that has happened.  He explains what is about to happen.  She will have a son, she will name him Ishmael, and that she is to return to Sarai & Abram.

My dear friends - have you ever had a Hagar Moment?  Perhaps you did exactly like you were told, you did a good job, and then it just didn't measure up?  It just wasn't enough and you were still ridiculed for what you were told to do?!  How frustrating right?  It could be enough for you to literally run away, or enough for you to run away from it in your spirit.  And as a result, you never really received healing.  If this is where you are today - I have good news for you!

God sees it all!  Have you ever wondered, "Where is God?" or "Did God see what they just did to me?"  The answer is a resounding, "YES!"

Based on this, I would imagine that we all have areas in our life that need some healing?  So where do we start?  Where does real healing begin?  Read Psalm 139: 7-12.  Nothing happens that God does not see.  There is no place that evil can hide from God.  He sees it all.

Kay says on page 32, "God saw it.  He knows the sin that was committed against you.  And someday He will vindicate you."  How does this make you feel?  Does this bring you comfort?

The chapter ends with a great thought... "What if you had a loved one who ran away or who was missing?  Although you would not know where he was or what was happening in his life, El Roi does!" 

Perhaps you're really concerned about your future and you just can see how you're going to get out of where you currently are - you can't see - but El Roi does!

Conclude your time today reading Proverbs 15:3.  "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good."

Comments for today's discussion:
1.  What comfort does knowing your God as El Roi bring to you today?
2.  How does Proverbs 15:3 make you feel?
3.  Do you have some times in your life where you felt like Hagar?  How would knowing God as El Roi helped you then and how does it help to heal you now?
4.  Take a moment to thank God for being your El Roi - that He does see all that happens concerning you, His child!