Sunday, May 29, 2011

God Told Me

Does God punish believers who have times of doubt? That waver in the belief that the Bible is the inerrant, literal, word of God? That suspect that the world might be a tad older than 6,000 years old, and man and dinosaurs didn't roam this earth at the same time?  That cringe at certain passages in scripture? Can you believe with all your heart that Jesus is who He said he was, and not be obedient to the men and women who claim to speak for Him in the church? 

I hear believers say "God told me to" all the time and I wonder why it isn't so simple for me. Or they say "Satan has me under attack" whenever they find themselves not getting their way. It's black and white for them, and they have a certainty about God's actions in their lives that frankly weirds me out. I don't see this all that often in scripture, even among the great heroes of the Old and New Testament. Often they were beseeching the Lord for answers, pleading for clarity. (Psalms 58) The disciples were fearful at times and wavered in their faith even as Jesus was being led away by the Roman soldiers. (Mathew 26)

I love the Lord and want only to be of service in the Harvest, yet God often doesn't tell me stuff, He show's me things but He often takes His time about it and apparently isn't all that concerned when I wander into dead ends. And it isn't always the Devil thwarting my plans, but God saying No! So I'll just keep reading scripture, listening to fellow believers, and backing out of occasional dead ends. 

2 comments:

  1. This post reminded me of Chris Rice's song "Smell The Color Nine".

    "Are there special revelations meant for everybody but me? Maybe I don't truly know you; maybe I just simply believe"

    God isn't afraid of our questions or lack of faith, he's not even afraid of our anger toward him in times of trouble. He's big enough to handle it.

    Like you said the Christian life is filled with learning experiences. We make the wrong decision and learn not to do that again. Years ago there was a bumper sticker that said "God is my co-pilot" some folks got indignant and started printing ones that said "God is my PILOT" as if God knocks us out of the drivers seat when we become a Christian and we just sit back in 1st class sipping on our favorite drinks and watching the movie...it's a great thought but in reality God let's us make our own choices good or bad. If he took over the wheel then we would never grow.

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