Have you ever wondered why things are not going great in your life? I must confess that although I had ‘heard’ that in this life it rains on the just and the unjust, in my heart I expected life to be easier being a child of God. When the promised trials and tribulations came, I felt deep down inside a real abandonment.
So many of us have picked up the idea somewhere along the way that once you become a Christian, everything in life will improve. Well, that’s true…but just not in the ways you may have expected!
My definition of an ‘improved life’ was a life free of stress, health problems, and financial strains and so on.
We hear so many teachings of health and prosperity awaiting believers. If people turn to God to get ‘things’ sorted in their life, they are just as likely to turn away from God when ‘things’ don’t go the way they wanted; when the promised trials and tribulations of life come along.
God certainly can bless His children with financial gain. He certainly can heal them completely. In the scriptures we see many examples of both; however, God also knows our heart and the number of hairs on our head. He knows what we can handle. He knows what will help us and what will cause us to move away from Him.
He is our Father and He wants what is best for us to grow up spiritually. What God wants to give us is a ‘relationship’ with Him. Not a religious lifestyle, but a real day-to-day relationship.
In some ways, I had behaved like a child. I wanted life to be a certain way and when I didn’t get my way, I got upset. I can’t tell you how many times I literally griped at God! . I still marvel at his patience! He could have struck me down with a bolt of lightning! Sometimes I half expected him to!
There have also been times in my past when I have pulled away from God because I didn’t get my expected answer to prayer; I wrongly believed that He wasn’t there for me or didn’t care about my needs. So, I reasoned, if God didn’t want to help me, I’d do things my way. Some people pull away because they get angry at God.
There are instances in the Bible where the Jewish people wanted ‘results’ from their prayer and when God didn’t respond the way they wanted Him to, they resorted to idol worship instead. When they were unfaithful to God (playing the harlot with false gods), God removed His hand of protection from them. It wasn’t because He didn’t love them, but a Father who loves His children must also love them enough to discipline them when they go astray.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37)
Can you hear the sorrow in our Lord’s words? Can you imagine the heartache in His heart for His children? He knew that they would continue to suffer because they would not humble themselves and return to Him. They were hard-heads with hard hearts.
Children do not generally like or appreciate discipline. Who wants to stand in the corner when they could be playing instead? Who wants to clean their messy room when they could be out riding their bike? Who wants punishment? Discipline does not make a parent popular with a child! Yet, a good parent has to put their foot down for the sake of the child.
When things went bad for the Jewish people and they were in trouble with their enemies, God told them to turn to their idols and pray to them for the protection they were seeking. He was showing them their folly. His sarcasm was an indication of the hurt He felt at their betrayal of Him. Yet all the time, He loved them and longed to receive them back.
He is still like that today! He is still the loving Father who is waiting for His Children to return home. He doesn’t want us to return home so He can punish us or lecture us, but so He can love and bless us.
The most precious blessings in life cannot be purchased. They aren’t available in a half-price sale. Joy in the things of this world cannot be retained, because it is human nature to want more; something new and improved.
Happiness does not come from the things here on earth because they are unstable. You can have a good job but be made redundant. You can have a new car or house, but they become an old car or an old house. You can have good looks, but you cannot stop aging. You can make sensible investments but still lose all in a bad market.
What about religion then? Self-sufficient righteousness is also in vain. You can do all the works to be religious, but even that will not satisfy. If you do not know the Lord, knowing about Him will not satisfy your heart. Rituals do not replace knowing Him.
Pleasures do not satisfy long-term either. Even sin is pleasurable for a time, but then comes the consequences of sin, the guilt and the regrets.
The most precious blessings come from a relationship with God. He is faithful and constant. His love for us isn’t dependent on the economy, a job, material wealth, or anything the world has to offer.
I once believed that the verse, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” meant that if I was really good…that would please God and then He would give me the things I wanted or desired. What I am happy to discover is that the verse really means that the more a person knows God, the more they will love Him and the more He will change the desires in their heart to match the desires He has for them!
His desires for us are infinitely better than any desires we could want for ourselves.
God Bless!
Little Cottage in the Wilderness 