10/14 - Because He's God

The curse of man has put us in a very peculiar position. Since the Fall, our natural inclination is not toward God but away from Him. So it makes sense, then, that we often find ourselves at odds with His will. We question whether or not He's good, why our financial situations are so bleak, why we have to suffer, why we don't have what others have why so many people are starving and so much more. So here we stand, with some level of our thoughts and deeds in opposition to the very God who created us and can help us.

I do believe it's natural for us to ask these sort of questions. However, contrary to what we've been led to believe, what's natural isn't always right. We sometimes let ourselves off the hook when we say things like "Nobody's perfect" or "everybody struggles with [fill in the sin here]". When we say these things, we shift our focus off a holy God, who is the only true standard, to ourselves, by whom we probably stack up very well against. This isn't a call to perfection, but a call to proper perspective. We can't achieve perfection but we are definitely called to strive toward it. In Leviticus God commands us multiple times, "Be holy because I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2, 19:24, 20:7, 20:26, etc)

Colossians 1:16 says, "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him."

Yet we live as though He was created for us. "God give me this," "God let my plans work out," "God if you'll do this just once..." There's nothing wrong with laying our request before God but we should never lose sight of the prayer that keeps everything in perspective - "God let your will be done." So many of our prayers are about our will. The verse says that all things were created by Him and for Him so it then becomes our responsibility to learn to trust in Him. Trust in His justice, trust in His decisions, trust Him in your circumstances.

When we find ourselves at odds with God and question His reasoning, it's our trust in Him that will allow us to come to grips with the fact that the answer is simply: because He is God. It's our faith that will allow this answer be more than just a euphemism and something we use to cope with our disappointment with God. By faith we can embrace this truth and know that God always has our best interests at heart, even when we don't know any better.

Question for the day: Can you worship a God who isn't obligated to explain his actions to you?

God, we know you are all-knowing & all-powerful. Teach us to trust in You for these truths in our actions. Teach us to understand that even in our worst circumstances, even in our worst sin, You still know what's best for us.

*Credit to the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan for the topic and some of the subject matter of this post.