Do you expect too much from God?
Do you expect too much from God?
That sounds like an odd question. After all, God is both all-knowing and all-powerful; He understands everything perfectly, and has limitless power to do as He pleases.
So we can expect a lot from Him.
And we do.
Perhaps too much.
Today I read part of a quote that stated, “Hurt puts holes in our faith …” The sentence is similar to how many people respond to God; it seems to justify the shrinking of our faith if God allows us to hurt. If God doesn’t perform the way I want, I will punish Him with a reduction of faith. If God allows for things to happen in my life that I don’t like or that hurt, I will trust Him less and like Him little.
We have developed in our own minds a performance standard for God, and dangle our faith as a carrot before the Lord; we’ll maintain our faith if He performs as we expect. When He fails our expectations, we punish Him by reducing our faith.
But Jesus Christ did not come to this world to soften every circumstance, to bail us out of every bad decision, to provide for our comfort, or even to heal every wound.
Why did He come?
“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost,” Luke 19:10.
Oh, there is a bigger picture. There is coming a time when everything broken and set askew by sin will be made right. There is coming a day when Christ will reign and every knee shall bow to Him. There is coming a day when there will be no more tears, no more night, no more fears, no more pain, or hunger, or poverty, or loneliness, or hate, or strife, or sickness. No more sin!
But that isn’t today.
Mercifully — even graciously! — God is moving every day in the lives of those who are suffering such things (often in a far greater way than we could hope or imagine!). But such things will be with us until Christ returns.
Our problem is wanting them gone today so badly that we sometimes allow ourselves to think less of God for not doing what we think He should do, the way we think He should do it, when we think He should.
In spite of such a mindset, here’s a dose of truth: God’s plan is better. It’s bigger. And it’s perfect.
We would eliminate a great deal of self-created frustration if we would align our lives — our minds, hearts, desires — to God’s plan and God’s way. To fail to do so is to often harbor resentment against the God we claim to love and be in submission to.
You cannot resent God and be fully submitted to Him at the same time.
Do you expect too much from God? Where do your expectations of God come from? How does God’s “performance” affect your faith?
Scotty
September 13, 2012 at 1:05 am
Scotty, I totally see where you're coming from on this post. It's the old "God the Vending Machine" mindset where you come in demanding Skittles and if you get Spree you go into tissy mode. It's a mindset prevalent in so many churches today and I'm ashamed to say I see a lot of preachers speaking that sideways doctrine.
At the same time, I'll admit there are times I feel anger toward God for things not happening in my life. Being honest, I struggle getting through every day. I can't pay all my bills with the job I have yet nothing else is opening up. I'm alone, 1100 miles from my closest family because it's the only way to see my kids four days out of the month. I can count on one hand with fingers left over the friends I have in real life because being honest, I'm a little bit weird and don't fit into a box.
It makes it hard many times and I spend many nights laying on the floor crying to God asking for Him to do something to make it a little easier. To give me some kind of relief. To bring someone alongside this soldier in his army to help him fight or for the Commander to step in and fight with him. And when it doesn't come, it wears on me. I'm exhausted and I keep looking for Him to do something to bring some relief and it just doesn't show up.
I know He has a plan I can't see and His plan is best. I don't question that at all. I'm just tired and sometimes wonder why He doesn't step in to give this child a little relief.
September 13, 2012 at 1:14 am
Jason, your comment is the very heart of the whole idea behind this blog post, thank you so much for sharing. I personally identify with precisely what you're saying. Yes, that "vending machine" theology is thick in the church, and furthered by bad preaching. We can fix that by looking into the Word and listening to the Spirit. And yes, I have experienced the same kind of raw, difficult circumstances you're facing, and still know some of them. Without any question, life has some times that are downright tough. I'm grateful that in spite of what is being hurled at you, you are holding to your faith, instead of shrinking it. That's the whole point of faith! We KNOW God has a bigger, better plan. We KNOW He cares. We KNOW He is in the midst of everything we face. We can't always make sense of how He responds, but that is where faith comes in. Knowing what we do know, we praise Him that we CAN trust Him, and thank Him for helping us do so. Thank you for sharing. I'm taking time to pray for you right now. May the peace of God be with you regardless of what comes you way, for God is with you!
January 28, 2013 at 1:03 pm
Hi there! What is yous point of view on promotion campaigns put on blogging websites?
January 28, 2013 at 6:28 pm
It's not anything I've thought about.