In elementary school, I traded notebooks with a girl in my class. The pink and glitter cover dazzled and captured my attention. But my notebook paled in comparison. So I wondered why she ever agreed to such an uneven trade…to my trading up.
Have you ever traded, exchanged one thing for another, and received the best end of the deal?
A few years ago, I begin praying prayers of exchange.
Lord, please exchange my infirmity with Your wholeness; and trade my empty for Your completeness. Amen.
You see, our relationship with the heavenly Father is always about trading up. Because what we trade pales in comparison to what He provides in return.
Our _______ for His ________.
Here are 15 of those uneven trades with God straight from the Bible.
Trading Up
1.) Our lack for His bounty.
“You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance” Psalm 65:11, NIV.
2.) Our shame for God’s mercy.
“But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead—only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved…” Ephesians 2:4-5a, TLB.
3.) Our sorrow for the Lord’s joy.
“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” Isaiah 35:10, ESV.
4.) Our darkness for His light.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” 1 John 1:5, ESV.
5.) Our weakness for His strength.
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV.
God trades our lack for His bounty, our shame for His mercy, our sorrow for His joy, our darkness for His light, our weakness for His strength, and our.... Discover more at Soaring With Him Ministries. @FridayKaren #christianblog Click To TweetAmazing Exchanges
6.) Our fear for God’s courage.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” Joshua 1:9, NIV.
7.) Our burden for the Lord’s rest.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28, NIV.
8.) Our doubt for God’s trust.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not trust in your own understanding. Agree with Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight” Proverbs 3:5-6, NLV.
9.) Our affliction for His healing.
“But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture” Malachi 4:2, TLB.
10.) Our hate for His love.
“We love because he first loved us” 1 John 4:19, ESV.
Lord, please exchange my infirmity with Your wholeness; and trade my empty for Your completeness. Amen. @FridayKaren #prayers Click To TweetTrading With God
11.) Our lies for God’s truth.
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” John 8:31-32, ESV.
12.) Our evil for the Lord’s good.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8, ESV.
13.) Our trouble for the Lord’s peace.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” John 16:33, NIV.
14.) Our sin for His grace.
“Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” Romans 3:24, NLT.
15.) Our death for His life.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23, NLT.
What amazing trades! Which trade resonates the most with you?
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Our relationship with the #HeavenlyFather is always about trading up. What we trade pales in comparison to what He provides in return. Join @FridayKaren for 15 of these amazing trades. Link up is open. Share your blog. Click To Tweet
Karen,
I LOVE this!! “Trading Up” – I think you have a book here?! It’s hard to pick just one that resonates. I am making a copy of this to keep in my emergency kit of scriptures. So thankful for a God that we can come to with all our infirmities and weaknesses and He gives us His awesome power in order to “trade up”. Great post!
Blessings,
Bev xx
Thanks so much, Bev. I like the idea of turning this into a book…who doesn’t like to trade up?! And with the God of the universe at that. It is comforting to know we give God every broken or messed up thing and He gives something whole and beautiful in return. Amazing! By the way, I have a printable I created as a one sheet for trading up. I’ll be glad to email to you. Send me a note at karentfriday@gmail.com
Oh, Karen, this post is worth a S-L-O-W read with an open Bible. What beautiful truth!
Michele, I like to savor every morsel of God’s truth and goodness in all these trades. I’m so grateful He exchanges our infirmity with His wholeness and trades our empty for His completeness.
I love the reminder that we don’t have to attain these things on our own. We can ask our generous, loving God to give us trust, bounty, peace!
Karen, I love this. Yes, I want to trade up!
Debbie, so glad this encouraged you. Isn’t it amazing how our relationship with the heavenly Father is always about trading up. Because what we trade pales in comparison to what He provides in return.
Good morning, Karen. My pastor calls it the Great Exchange. What a beautiful blessing to have traded up! Thank you for the rich reminder today.
Peace and grace,
Tammy
“The Great Exchange,” I like it, Tammy! What more would we expect from a magnificient and almighty God than exchanges that are indeed GREAT! Thanks for sharing!
I LOVE this post Karen, especially this: “…our relationship with the heavenly Father is always about trading up. Because what we trade pales in comparison to what He provides in return. Our _______ for His ________.” I have so many trades to fill-in those blanks. Thanks for providing Scriptural truths for where we need it most!
Hey Joy, I’m forever grateful and blessed that whatever I put in that first blank can never match what God fills His blank with. Never. “Thank you, Lord for exchanging with us and always allowing us to trade up. Amen!”
It’s always wonderful when we can trade up. And with God, it’s always a trade up! Seeing these laid out here in black and white makes me want to cry at how blessed we are. Thanks, Karen.
It moves me to shouts of joy and tears, Lisa. So overwhelming the trades are uneven and yet, God enjoys making the necessary trades with us to redeem our story and to give us the abundant life promised in John 10:10.
Hi Karen, this is such a great post, I love it. He really did take our place. I spent a lot of time trying to do what He wanted me to do but I tried too hard, now resting in His peace, I can’t do it but He can and will.
Good input, Rebecca. We can’t do it and like how you mention peace. Because…He trades our trouble for His peace.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” John 16:33, NIV.
I love love LOVE this post! ‘Trading up’ is such a great perspective. Thank you! x
Glad this post spoke to you, Anastasia. As God’s daughters, we have the best Father in the whole wide world to willingly exchange our feeble things and our ashes, for His divine-things that bring such beauty into our lives!
I was out of town, sorry I’m so late! I love this, Karen! This is one of my favorite posts you’ve written. Thank you!
Awe, thanks sweet friend. I’m so grateful for your kind words and for the Lord’s kindness in making such awesome trades with His children!