Trading Up:15 Amazing Exchanges With God
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 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.
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’s 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.
Our relationship with the heavenly Father is always about uneven trades. Because what we trade pales in comparison to what He provides in return. 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. #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.
Which trade resonates the most with you?
Featured image, my grandson. Other images courtesy of Adobe Spark. Sometimes I participate in these link-ups:
Lori Schumaker/#momentsofhope, Jaime Wiebel/#SittingAmongFriends, Crystal Twadell/Fresh Market Friday, Kelly Balarie/Purposeful Faith, Patricia Holbrook/Soaring With Him, Meghan Weyerbacher/TeaandtheWord, Lyli Dunbar/#FaithOnFire & Crystal Storms/Heart Encouragement.
© 2018 by Karen Friday, All rights reserved
A great way to look at “trades”. Trading my sins for His forgiveness. Trading my fear for God’s courage. Thank you for these valuable messages.
You’re welcome, Melissa. My heart is that others will join in the trading up relationship with God. Appreciate you reading and commenting.
Dear Karen!
All of them resonated with me.
With love!
Edna Davidsen
Hey Edna,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. They all resonate with me too. So grateful our relationship with the heavenly Father is always about uneven trades. Because what we trade pales in comparison to what He provides in return.
That’s the heart of our good, good Father.
Blessings, Karen
Ah so wonderful, Karen.
I was thinking…I need to print these out and was also wondering if you had a pin created for them?
I needed this, this morning. Just reading them aloud made a difference. xoxo
Oh, the trades are so amazing, aren’t they?! I thought about an image/pin with all of them listed in short form and just reference the Scripture. I’ll create one later today after some meetings and let you know.
Appreciate your encouragement and for sharing on Facebook, Meg.
Blessings and hugs! Karen
I love this concept! It reminds me of that guy who traded a paper clip for a house.
I can’t narrow down a particular trade up that resonates because every single stinking one you mentioned is a place I’ve been. But, trading trouble for peace, that’s the one I keep coming back to. With a life of suffering, I’ve had to keep going back to the watering hole. God has continued reminding me that his peace isn’t ibuprofen. It doesn’t take my pain. It is an embrace in the midst of it. Great post, Karen!
Hey Chip,
“God has continued reminding me that his peace isn’t ibuprofen. It doesn’t take my pain. It is an embrace in the midst of it.” I love that thought and truth! Good word.
And yes, how amazing to think about all the trades God is willing to make with us. I will forever be amazed by Him. Thanks for commenting!
I love that God exchanges our weaknesses for His strengths. You gave so many wonderful examples, but the last two are my favorites… Our sin for His grace and our death for His life. So thankful for Jesus.
Heather, I love those as well. It is hard to pick just one or a few since our faithful Lord gives us so much. They are all reminders of the spiritual blessings we have in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:3) Thank you!
Karen, I love the idea of “trading up!” He is such a good, good Father!
I also loved the scriptures you chose to illustrate your point.
Thank you, Jerralea (great name). And I love that the trading up we’ve been given the privilege to do is straight from the Bible. Blessings!
Such a lovely concept of trading up. We traded our sins for eternal life with Jesus, we certainly got the better end of that deal and in in everything God gives us in life. With these trade ups, we so often forget to gives thanks to God for them. Lord, thank you for allowing me to trade up the things in my life for the better things you have to offer.
Good point, Yvonne. To be thankful for such great gifts from our heavenly Father. Amen!
Our heart of stone for his heart of love!
Oh Karen this is wonderful, I love it. To know that we get all the benefits of our loving, gracious, father and He is happy to do it for us. Because he loves us so much!!
The writings the Holy Spirit gives to us, through you, is always a blessing and a thrill. His gifts are always perfect and good! <3 Thank you!!!
“Our heart of stone for his heart of love!” Yes, Marla! That’s a great trade! I’m in awe of these amazing trades! May we never lose the awe of it all or take it for granted.
Thanks sweet friend. Hugs!
This post is inspiring! God is so, so good to us, and he gives the best gifts. Thanks for this sweet reminder!
Yes, He does, Sydney. “You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance” Psalm 65:11, NIV.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Karen!
Great post – loved every “trade up I read.” I actually had never thought of our relationship with the heavenly Father as always trading up. That makes me even in more awe of Him! What’s in it for Him, eh? I mean you state it right in saying that “what we trade pales in comparison to what He provides in return.” So, I can only think that God sees our potential – our “God-given potential.” I think He is willing to trade down knowing that the trade up helps us to transform into Christlikeness, after all, Jesus not only came to save us, but He came to show us what being “human” really looks like. Amen? Love ya, Lisa Q
“I think He is willing to trade down knowing that the trade up helps us to transform into Christlikeness, after all, Jesus not only came to save us, but He came to show us what being “human” really looks like.” Yes, Lisa, Amen! He is willing to trade down for our benefit to make us more and more in the image of Christ! Hallelujah!
I love the concept of trading up when it comes to our relationship with God! We basically have nothing to offer Him, yet everything to gain. I think the one I’ve seen change the most over the years in my heart is my hate for His love. Not that I hated much, but I certainly was not very sympathetic or caring in my youth, and that has changed so much. Praise God for that exchange. And it may not be in your list, but I was also very arrogant and I hope now, with my understanding of who God is and who I am, there is more humility. Thank you.
Yes, Stephen, praise God for that exchange of real love. And I like the trade of arrogance for God’s humility. That’s a great one as well. You summed it up:
“We basically have nothing to offer Him, yet everything to gain.”
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Karen
This is such great encouragement! Reading each of these exchanges, what burden he removes from us in exchange for the blessing he bestows was so uplifting!
I think if I had to pick one, I’d say: “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.
Though we WILL have trouble in this world, Jesus has overcome this world. He gained the victory! We can take heart in him, for in him we have peace, even in trouble. This blesses me greatly!
It blesses me also, Melinda. To trade trouble for God’s peace. So amazing! What a loving and compassionate God to give such perfect gifts to His imperfect children. 🙂
Thank you!
I get the great God of the universe and He gets a piece of messy dust. What a fabulous post. The trade is indeed short on God’s end. He gave His Son and we get abundant life.
“I get the great God of the universe and He gets a piece of messy dust.” Amen! Isn’t that just like our God? To care so much about us He is willing to get the short end of the deal EVERY time.
Thank you, Nancy.
Love this Karen!! Thank you for this fantastic list. And thank the Lord for these trades— what a merciful, generous Savior!
Hey Bethany,
Amen. He is a generous Savior! “Thank you, Lord, for trading down so we trade up for all Your fabulous and wonderful blessings in this world. We’re forever grateful! Amen.”
So many scripture verses you’ve shared hear to soak in! Thank you Karen. You’ve reminded me of how much God values me more than I even value myself at times.
On a side note, I do think of garage sales where trading up kind of happens all the time. “One man’s garbage is another’s treasure” as my mom used to say!:)
Ha ha, Lynn. The garage sale thing made me smile. So true about our garbage being a treasure to someone else. Which does indeed remind me of trading up with God. He takes all our rubbish and in exchange we get the treasures of heaven and Jesus too!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I love it when you do these types of lists. I just want to print them out and tape them to my office wall…I may just do it. Thank you!
Hey Stephanie,
Several others mentioned saving and printing the list. Guess I should have done a free printable. Thanks for stopping by and reading.