Sunday, October 11, 2009

Limiting God

Dear Reader,

Do you ever stop and ask yourself why it is that we, as Christians, seek to limit the ways in which God can bless us? On the one hand, we cry out to Him for protection, for prosperity, for needs to be met, and yet, at the same time, we treat Him like Santa Claus: "God, I know You want to bless me, because Your word says so, so here's what I'd like You to do for me...." God is not sitting up in heaven waiting for our list of petitions! He is the all-knowing Creator, Who knew us before we were conceived! How silly we are to think that He will only bless us in ways we ask, or even in ways we want.

This was born out to me today. For some time, I have been looking and praying for God to work mightily in one of my close friendships. I have been clinging to God's promises and looking for Him to bless this particular friendship, and I even thought I might have some suggestions for Him as to ways in which He might choose to do so. Was I wrong! God stretched out His hand and caused circumstances that I had never even thought to ask of Him! He showed me that, while it is the height of foolishness to doubt God's faithfulness, it is almost as ridiculous for us to try and "submit proposals" to God, for His review and consideration.

Dear reader, don't make the mistake of assuming that God won't act, or can't move into a situation, unless you line out for Him specifically what you want Him to accomplish and, oh by the way, here's some ways You might want to go about accomplishing it. God is a merciful Father, and like a Father, He knows what we need before we ask it. Note that the text (Matt 6:8) doesn't say "He knows what you were going to ask Him before you ask it." It says He knows what we need. There is a world of difference, sometimes, between what we need and what we were going to ask God for.

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