Christians have the belief that we are to be favored by God. We like that part of the Bible and choose to take it very literally, believing that because of Christ that things are gong to go our way, like will be grand and we will drift through life unscathed or with just a few dings in the sidewalls. We expect to have enough money, a good job, children who will behave and grow up without real problems, faithful spouses and live long and healthy lives.
Those of us who have been around a while know that is rarely if ever the case. Many of our situations turn out to be what we would view as "worst case scenarios."
Take a page from Old Testament history; when Israel was leaving Egypt they thought that because they were the chosen people that their trek from captivity to freedom would be an easy one. In many, many ways it was because of the divine provision of God, but that did not stop them from grumbling and complaining about not having enough of the food they liked, being thirsty, or about who God had set over them to lead.
God very often denies us our wants and even what we perceive to be our needs. In those moments it is human and natural to wonder what God is trying to accomplish in us by denying us what appears to be good for us.
We know we are to have faith, and we do have faith. We believe and want to watch God reveal Himself and work through circumstances. We want to see Him do something spectacular for us like we know He is able to do! Prayer goes up, faith and hope build up and we anxiously await how God will razzle dazzle us.
Whether it be waiting for the check to appear in the mail, that surprise bonus, the broken car to be an easy fix, our child to make first string or first chair, that troubled relationship to be resolved, whatever the situation is we are counting on God to make it happen.
And there are times He does not.
The struggle to understand is huge. We lack understanding in how God works in these moments and days. We ask questions like, "Why does God smash my faith over and over again?" Because that is how it feels. It feels like God builds us up only to let us down. It feels like God is playing with our emotions and our faith. Almost as though God is saying to us, "How do you like Me now?"
This kind of thinking is not true and it is a gross injustice to accuse God of such cruelty. Our God is a loving and compassionate God full of tenderness, mercy, understanding, righteousness and holiness. He would violate every aspect of who He is if those things were true.
He loves you and you are His child. There are times when our human fathers do things we do not understand or like and they are finite beings; how much more our infinite heavenly Father who is far beyond our ability to comprehend?
Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:7-9
Be cautious and wise in your thoughts and meditations about the Lord. He is working things in your heart and life that you cannot comprehend at this point in time. Continue to love and trust and obey Him- because it brings Him glory that you do!