The minute you think you have God figured out, he does
something that shoots your understanding to shreds. How arrogant of us to claim that He must do
it our way because we read and understand!
I totally believe in healing by Jesus Christ as part of the
atonement and yet I struggle with RA and allergies. I deal often with kidney infections. God has not chosen to heal me of these as
yet. I’ll bet you that even your best
guru could not change the mind of God.
He has spoken to me at various times. He has healed me and done amazing miracles at
my simple request. He has not chosen to
heal my infirmity as yet and he may never do that. I listen for the word in my spirit but he has
not spoken healing for these yet. I will
trust him anyway and I will still believe in the prayer of faith to heal the
sick.
We who have studied the New Testament know about Paul’s
infirmity. He was a disciple of Jesus
after the fact who healed and even brought people back from the dead, but when
he asked for his physical limitation to be removed God said “No” and even gave
him an explanation. Yet there are those
who would condemn that in a man today as a lack of faith or understanding. I think that is a pretty arrogant stand –considering
all.
God will never fit in a box I make for him. I’m pretty sure he won’t fit in your box
either. He reveals his will to us out of
kindness and grace. He heals, restores,
and redeems. But sometimes it does not
come out like we ‘believe.’ The question
is will we continue to believe, serve and pray.
Will we listen and ask when we don’t hear what we want to hear? Will we rejoice at the greatness of God when
we lose a child or a spouse? Will we
fight through and out of darkness into his light not the light of another?
Years ago I met a man who had CP. He had gone to every Bible based faith healer
in the country and some out of the country.
He almost lost his faith in God –a God who refused to heal him when he
had witnessed others being healed. Then
he began to ask God why he would not heal him –and listen. God promised to give him every need, but told
him that his CP would be the vehicle with which he would glorify God. God gave him the right to an excellent
education and the faith and ability to build a very successful business in
spite of his CP. Then he brought him a
beautiful wife with no physical limitations and gave him several children none
of which had his disease. He was a
motivational speaker nationwide and a testimony to the love, grace and
provision of God in the harshest of situations.
He led many to faith in Christ and prayed for healing and restoration
all over the world. God did not take
away his CP. Yet some would say he had
no faith or understanding?
I value the prayer and understanding of others. But I value much more the voice of God
because I know it is in hearing his words while searching to understand his
written word that I grow closer to him and become a vessel he uses in my small
sphere of influence. That small sphere
is much greater to me than the huge ministry of some, simply because it is my
responsibility and the place where God has commissioned me to serve. I want to do it with understanding; I want to
do it with grace. I don’t mean to be a
rebel, but I want to be God’s servant even if others don’t approve, agree, or
understand. Jesus was crucified as a
rebel because he would not rebel against the one who mattered most. I will say with David “My God will vindicate
me for my cause is just.”
I have learned to know and trust God through times when I
screamed and cried “Why won’t you help me?”
Once I said to him “I would not treat my child that way.” And yet because my heart was honest and
broken, he did not reject me for my words.
I have learned that this life is short.
God does not look at things like we do.
We cannot make him our servant, though he loves us so incredibly as to
send his son to die for us because that is the only way righteousness and grace
could meet. We cannot make him succumb
to our reasoning and values though his heart is touched deeply with our pain or
grief. He does the miraculous, but he
does not do it with human wisdom or understanding and the minute you put him in
a box, you can bet he will explode your little flimsy box.
And yet I believe.
Psalm 115:3; Isaiah 43:13; Isaiah 46:10
Interesting thoughts. I have often pondered on 2 Samuel 22:27; With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself unsavory.
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of places in scripture that seemed to hint that God presented himself in the way we conceive him to be.
When I first started this walk with him, he was like a magic wand that would work miracles in the most mundane situations, such as finding parking places and employment. But soon, the little honeymoon ended, and it was time to get down to more serious work.
Over the years I have had sometimes humorous misconceptions, and sometimes tragic ones. In all them, I eventually found his love, though often it was hidden. The most severe warning I have received from him was that in all this to not let a root of bitterness spring up, and over time, it has been the hardest instruction to follow.
I so often think of those Jews who may have put God on trial during their imprisonment. Elie Wiesel and two others formed a biet din, one testifying for God, and one against. While one may think it the highest form of chutzpah to try God, one must be honest with him too. He had failed them in his promises to feed them and to save them. Eventually, they found that God wasn’t guilty, but rather they use the term chayav, meaning he owed them something. His play, God on Trial takes place in another venue, but many of the same arguments were used in the play as the lawyers used in the real event.
I don’t know that I would be so circumspect. (and please, God … I really don’t want to be tested that severely).
So here I am, sitting perplexed. Do I ask, or do I confess that God will provide? Or maybe both. Or perhaps neither. I pray for my family, and ask for good things because I know that He will not give bad gifts. I pray for my new congregation. I pray for my old congregation even though I was instructed not to. (long story, but they became apostate … denying Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the authenticity of the Brit Chadasha (N.T.).
I pray that the mechanic finds the problem with my brakes. I pray for strength. I pray for victory over my many vices. I pray that I may be counted worthy, albeit with a bit of hesitancy.
Nice write … :)
Thank you kind sir. As always, I appreciate your view point.
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