But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware.

Luke 12: 45-46  (NKJV)

It’s the evil servant who is doing the things he shouldn’t be doing that will have the master come when he’s not looking for him, who will catch him unaware.

The servant the master finds alert and watching for His master is the one who is blessed.

We’re the blessed servants who are doing the things we should be doing when the master comes, and we will be invited to recline at the table.

The thief comes at an unknown hour. The thief doesn’t come for the righteous. The thief doesn’t steal from those whose treasures are in heaven. They can’t. Heaven treasures can’t be stolen from you. The thief comes for those whose treasures are on earth. Paul warns that their end is destruction, those who have their minds on the things of earth. 

Believers, the righteous, don’t have to be afraid of the thief. They fear the Lord and He keeps them. They fix their eyes on Jesus, so they are always watching Him. They aren’t caught unawares. They are caught up in a blessing.

Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 

Luke 12:37

I shall not want. I have no desire for anything.

My desires have been satisfied. I want for nothing.

It’s not just a provision of need, but a restful contentedness in my loving Father’s perfect care of me.

It may be a long, craggy walk to the higher ground, but lush green pastures and still, clear waters wait for me with those same hills providing shelter and safety.

God only takes good care of me. He only loves.

I never need to worry about finding the green grass and still waters.

He leads me there. I never have to worry about how long it will take or losing my way because He is my Shepherd.

He tenderly and expertly cares for His sheep and causes them to know His voice and follow Him.

I have surrendered myself to His care; I have chosen to be one of His flock.

I don’t have to see above the crowd to know which way we are going.

I just have to follow His voice which He makes me to know and follow because I am His.

He has marked me as one of His own. He defends me from one who might try to steal me away because I am marked for Him; He knows me as His own.

I have no need to desire and long after what I do not have because it’s my Shepherd’s good pleasure to give me all I desire.

He taught me what to desire. He put His desire in me, so He’s always pleased to fulfill my desires and always keen to meet my needs without me even making them known.

I don’t have to ask my Shepherd for the green grass and still waters.

He chooses them for me and takes me there without me asking or planning. I just walk with Him.

It’s my joy to walk with Him because He knows my name and calls to me so that I am listening to His voice and keeping close to Him.

I like to stay close so that when He reaches out a hand, I get a warm pat or embrace from Him. The Shepherd loves me.

For what shall I want? Nothing.

Check out my new book, The Loved Lamb. You can listen to the whole thing here. It’s an allegorical storybook about the love of the Father for His children, how we can live with no want. It’s available on Amazon.

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

John 17:15 ESV

Here’s Jesus’ prayer for us in tribulation. It’s not that we would be taken out of the world, but that we would be kept from the evil one. Remember that the word kept means guarded. He is a shield about us. He will guard our hearts and minds.

We want to be miracled out of our trials and troubles, but Jesus wants to guard us through them. God is in control; He is the sovereign God. He allowed this for His good reasons. They are good reasons. He is completing that good work in you that He began, that you asked Him to complete. He’s loving you to the fullest. Jumping over the transformative work of tribulation is cheating yourself out of God’s good purposes for you! God’s preparing you for His work He’s created you for.

What work could He be preparing you for during an end times tribulation? He’s preparing you for eternity. He’s preparing you to reign with Him! There is much still to be done.

Humble yourself under God’s hand and allow Him to do His good work in you.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.

1 Peter 5:6 BSB