I recently participated in a Bible study and someone was interrogating re: what could be made of ‘Holy Spirit-filled’ Christians who, having expected or hoped for something from the Lord for a long time, gave up and ended up choosing another path that leads them to disaster.
Somebody said that in such cases, we must raise the question of the truthfulness of the conversion of such persons. I have to say that I totally agree with this line of thought. Indeed, being a Christian is believing without a shadow of a doubt that God is Good and only wants the best for us. Does He not have plans for welfare and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope (Jer 29:11)?
Being a Christian is accepting with serenity that if I am not granted the thing which I desperately want, it can only be for my own good and it is the best thing that can happen to me at the particular moment. We do not know everything: “here is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Prov 14:12 & 16:25) We do not always have the perspective needed to see that the door which we want open is that which can lead to our destruction.
We cannot be a Christian without believing in the absolute goodness, wisdom and omniscience of God. And to believe here is more than a mental process: it is a movement of the heart and the soul. It means that if after praying, fasting, pleading, crying, giving offerings and tithing, things are still not going in the expected direction, we should realize and accept that in His wisdom, the God who knows everything certainly has some very good reasons for not granting our prayers. God’s refusal is often His best way of protecting us.
When you decide to take matters in your own hands because God does not want to do it, you are declaring in a way that God doesn’t know what He is doing (or has to do) and you can do better than him. It is a way of proclaiming that you're smarter than Him and it is finally saying that God is not GOD. This is not really a Christian attitude, isn’t it?
We pray and say: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But in reality, we think: “Thy will be done in heaven, but MY will be done in MY life.” Unfortunately, since God reads the hearts, when we pray, He knows beforehand those who sincerely wish that His will be done, and those who want it to be done only if it corresponds to theirs; and in the latter case, He remains deaf and dumb to their requests, and let them follow the desires of their hearts. You don’t come to God with a Plan B and C. You only come with a plan A which is: God, God, and God. We come to Him with what we would like to see, do or have; we ask Him what He thinks, and stick to it. It is written (Prov 19:21): “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” Which has been translated by: “Man proposes, but God disposes.”
No matter what you may be going through; and even if what you have asked the Lord is slow to (or will not even) come to pass, have faith in God. Continue to believe in His goodness and wisdom. Acknowledge that you do not know how what you want will affect your future or that of your children. Let the peace of God which surpasses all understanding (yours too) keep your heart and thoughts. There is no matter of faith without the acceptance and the submission to the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.
I recommend you read or re-read the series on: “What it is to be a Christian?”; it will greatly bless you. http://lifeflowingpen.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-it-to-be-christian.html ; http://lifeflowingpen.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-it-to-be-christian-part-2.html ; http://lifeflowingpen.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-it-to-be-christian-addendum.html
Have a ‘wonderblessed’ week!
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