This last week I was asked to resend an excerpt of a book I am reading to a friend. The book is, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, by Tim Keller. The excerpt is an extended quote from a book by Elizabeth Elliot, No Graven Image.
One of the individuals who got the excerpt responded, “Difficult stuff.” I asked him why. His response was – and I am paraphrasing, and at some level expanding here – That it is hard to live a life following Christ when things do not seem to be working out according to our understanding of God’s promises to care for us.
First my friend is right. It is hard.
There are a number of passages that come to mind as I reflect on his response. One is Numbers 23:19 (here @ Bible Gateway). I know that he has this passage memorized, you may as well. The import of this passage is that if God has said something, it is essentially a promise, it will be done, it is a lock.
Sometimes though, it doesn’t seem that way.
We pray for our friend who is critically ill, and they die. We struggle with paying the bills, we pray, and still struggle. Yet we read in His Word that He will meet our needs. What is going on? (Obviously this paragraph can be expanded nearly infinitely, but I will leave that to you.)
Perhaps we need to alter our perspective. When things do not work out the way we want them to, the way we have prayed, what do we learn? For one thing, what we were asking for was not the will of God. We can know that from 1 John 5:14 – 15 (here @ Bible Gateway). That is a data point for us. We should learn from what God does that doesn’t align with what we think He should do.
The reality may be that we, like Elliot suggests in the excerpt, expect God to do for us what we want. We expect Him to fulfil our will, not His. In fact, that theology, or perhaps better, that idolatry, has permeated and impacts many of the countries in which the Lord has allowed me to serve.
Perhaps we should remember Numbers 23:19 (here @ Bible Gateway). He does not change. What He does is always consistent with His nature. He is faithful, He is love, He is sovereign. He is also eternal. His purpose and provision for us is not limited nor is it focused on this world. Remember John 14:1 – 4. It is a mistake, I think, to evaluate God by what He does for us in this world.
Note: This post marks the start of the eighth year for this blog. So far, 1853 posts and counting…
First my friend is right. It is hard.
There are a number of passages that come to mind as I reflect on his response. One is Numbers 23:19 (here @ Bible Gateway). I know that he has this passage memorized, you may as well. The import of this passage is that if God has said something, it is essentially a promise, it will be done, it is a lock.
Sometimes though, it doesn’t seem that way.
We pray for our friend who is critically ill, and they die. We struggle with paying the bills, we pray, and still struggle. Yet we read in His Word that He will meet our needs. What is going on? (Obviously this paragraph can be expanded nearly infinitely, but I will leave that to you.)
Perhaps we need to alter our perspective. When things do not work out the way we want them to, the way we have prayed, what do we learn? For one thing, what we were asking for was not the will of God. We can know that from 1 John 5:14 – 15 (here @ Bible Gateway). That is a data point for us. We should learn from what God does that doesn’t align with what we think He should do.
The reality may be that we, like Elliot suggests in the excerpt, expect God to do for us what we want. We expect Him to fulfil our will, not His. In fact, that theology, or perhaps better, that idolatry, has permeated and impacts many of the countries in which the Lord has allowed me to serve.
Perhaps we should remember Numbers 23:19 (here @ Bible Gateway). He does not change. What He does is always consistent with His nature. He is faithful, He is love, He is sovereign. He is also eternal. His purpose and provision for us is not limited nor is it focused on this world. Remember John 14:1 – 4. It is a mistake, I think, to evaluate God by what He does for us in this world.
Note: This post marks the start of the eighth year for this blog. So far, 1853 posts and counting…
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