Related to yesterday's post, this ruminated in my mind today... We often "give it all to God," and expect Him to respond in kind.
In times of anxiety, we "give it all to Him" and anticipate immediate peace. What happens when the feelings of peace avoid us? 1) We complain. 2) We stop trusting. Other times, we want something so badly that we "delight ourselves in the Lord" and wait for Him to give us the desire of our hearts.
Isn't there something wrong with that? How is God not relegated to an all-powerful vending machine? It is scary... rather, it is death to "give it all to God" and stop. No - "so that", "for He will surely", or "in order for Him to". I give it all to Him simply because I cannot.
I cannot stop complaining, I cannot stop envying, I cannot stop feeling angry, anxious or discontented. I don't "give it all to God" in order for Him to heal me. That is secondary. I give it to Him because I cannot. I give up predicting how He will sanctify me. I give up being my own Holy Spirit. I give up, give up, give up.
And yet, I know that He will. I do not know how, nor do I know when, but I know Him. It is this position of humility, which I believe opens the door for God to work as He wills; not as we envision, but beyond what we could ever imagine.
"...but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles." 1 Corinthians 1:23.
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Thanks for the insightful post. I especially liked the part about anticipating immediate peace in times of anxiety. I often think I've rid myself of the vending machine God mentality. But then only to be confronted that, really, I still am there in it, just that what I want seems to be 'more holy' (like peace, or direction) therefore exempt from that critical examining.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are right in delcaring that He will. "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him." - 1 John 5:14-15
He will and we can have full confidence that He will. If it is in His will, He most definitely will. But as you said, it will be beyond whatever we "can think or imagine".
Okay, I think I've rambled enough!