Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
I would have to say this sounds a bit cynical and "glass half-empty."
In my experience God is never doing nothing in regards to his relationship with me. He may seem silent, but I don't believe he is ever just doing nothing. James 4:8 says draw near to God and he will draw near to you. In my experience, when I truly seek the Lord, he's always there actively engaging with me in fellowship, love, joy, wisdom and encouragement. He never says, "Got nothing for you today. Run along." If I feel that way, it's because of some lack in me, not in Him. And if I become, dare I say, sharper in my spirit, I will gain sight of his amazing presence.
|
My view is far from cynical or "half empty." Instead, I am proposing that much of life is not simply ordained or directed. Rather it is there and we have a choice of how we will face it.
And even if I am fully set to be in concert with God, the day may not be good. I might have a flat tire in a place where there is no one to preach the gospel to, and the delay does nothing but become a delay. I might be in an accident. I would not attribute that to the will of God, or to his ordination of what would be. Yet what I do with each is meaningful. And it says something about how I actually relate to God. If I simply go off on the jerk who changed lanes into my car, I have not borne the image of God very well.
Yeah, I understand that when we phrase it as "Got nothing for you today. . . run along" it sort of makes God into a jerk. But even if you think that there has been silence and have not received something for the day, there is never a time when we do not have plenty for the day. What we already have and know should not be dismissed simply because it did not arrive fresh this morning. Have we really made it ours? Why the need for something new when we still have to deal with the old? His mercies are new every morning. But they are often the same mercies that we needed yesterday.
No, it should not result in a feeling of being sent out without breakfast. But neither does it need to be the realization of a fresh word for the day. You are right that the problem is the attitude of the believer, not anything about God.
But experiences of fellowship, love, joy, wisdom and encouragement are not promised as a daily thing. And when we insist on them in this way, we are setting ourselves up for a difficult time when we are unable to recognize those things for some period of time. When the thunder roars, the earthquakes shake our existence and we recognize nothing from God. Then we get a small voice. Nothing huge. Just a small voice.