I'm sure this is only true for me. None of you out there struggle with this like I do. My life has ... challenges. Financial, spiritual, physical, etc. but I have to say that God has been faithful. A number of times, we have met our landlords on the courthouse steps and was able to hand them a check for the rent as they were going inside to begin eviction proceedings. One might think "Wow, how cool God came through for you... AGAIN!" However, I am somewhat ashamed to admit that what went through the back of my mind just before rent money came in was "God didn't come through for me this time."
I'm sure we all have challenges we've gone through. Has God met them for you as he has for me? Then why do we not just thunder through life knowing God is going to come through for us, every time? If you are like me in this, you should know that we are in "good" company. The Children of Israel had just seen God change the mind of the most powerful man in the world with miraculous plagues & disasters and yet as they stood on the shore of the Red Sea and saw the Egyptian army approaching what did they do? They started yelling at Moses! They weren't singing God's praises because he was going to save them ... AGAIN! Even after the parting of the sea, did they have faith that God would feed them? No. After all God did for them, repeatedly saving them miraculously time after time they still wind up complaining, doubting, even replacing God with a golden cow.
I've thought a lot about this. I may have come to a conclusion that could explain some of this. It makes me feel better about it anyway... God doesn't own a watch.
He doesn't see time like we do. His perspective is beyond the minute to minute, hour by hour existence we must survive. To him, parting the red sea seconds before the first spear is thrown is no different than having everything printed out in an Itinerary weeks before the event. There are no surprises for God. To him it's as if everything has already happened. He can sit back and relax, 'cause it's all over for him. As we fuss & fret over some impending deadline, he can see that it's already been taken care of.
This is where the apologists & theologians will step in and talk about how the stress builds character & faith. I'm sure they're right. So what? That doesn't make things any easier for us, does it? Or does it?
Do YOU take comfort in knowing that God knows how things will turn out? I like to think I do, but I still go through the character-building, heart-pounding, stress routine just about every time. And just about every time I feel silly afterwards.
What about you? Do you sail through life, laughing at problems knowing God's got your back? Or do you fret & fuss every time life throws you a curve? Or, are you somewhere in the middle? I'd like to know...
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