Friday, September 19, 2014

Silly Christian, crying is for unbelievers! (Part 2)

"Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."  (Psalm 42:5)

OH how many times I've sung this!!!  How many times have I cried and then when I'm done, wondered what in the world I was crying for?  As if I had no hope, no God who was mighty to save?
 I mean, if I think it's ridiculous once I've regained my composure, how does GOD feel about it?

I have a very strong feeling that God is NOT okay with us resorting to tears and complaining at every little setback.

The Israelites did their fair share of complaining against God.  Even after seeing God's signs in Egypt, including the parting of the Red Sea, they complained as soon as they became thirsty. (THIRSTY!  They just watched God turn water into blood, flood the land with frogs and flies and all kinds of plagues, bring down a pillar of fire from heaven, split the sea for them to walk across, and the minute they get thirsty they start crying that they're going to die?!  Because, well of course God can split the seas, but giving us some water to drink, now that's a different story!)  Time after time, God provided, and time after time they complained once they became thirsty and hungry again, as if they had totally forgotten that not only was God totally capable of providing, but He desired to.  And while God was merciful, allowing for a bit of a learning curve,  He would not tolerate it forever.  There came a point when their complaining cost them everything.

Sometimes, in reading about the Israelites, I want to jump through the page and shake them all.  "You have seen with your own eyes the power of God!!!  You are SO close to the Promised Land!!!  You're RIGHT THERE!  Just GO IN!"  The Israelites had reached the Promised Land, but when they heard of the giants in the land, they doubted again.  They reduced God's power to be insufficient next to the people who lived in the land.  The same people who had witnessed God's power in Egypt now believed that He had not enough foresight to see this obstacle, and that He'd made a promise He couldn't keep.  They begged to turn back to the shackles in Egypt rather than believe God's promise.  For that, they wandered in the desert until the complainers died off, and their children inherited the promise. 


The funny thing is, as much as I want to shake the Israelites, I'm just like them.  So many people, including myself, have asked the question "if God is God, why doesn't He just show Himself?  Why doesn't He come down, and fix our problem with a miracle?" (Where's my pillar of fire?) Well, we see how well that worked with the Israelites.  I can tell you a lot of miraculous and unexplainable things have happened in my life.  It may not be fire from heaven or parted seas, but it has been obvious on several occasions that God has stepped in to sustain me.  And yet, when the next setback comes, despite ALL that He's done, I almost unfailingly question God.  I may as well be crying as if I was an unbeliever and I had no hope.

We all have setbacks, and we will continue to have them until we go home to be with Jesus.  But if you are living, and if you are breathing, then God has sustained you.  I cannot count the many times that I've felt like the world was crashing down, only to survive the situation and totally forget about it.  In the moment, it seems monstrous and insurmountable, but looking back it's like holding a polaroid picture up next to an album full of your life story -  it is completely miniscule.

I'm still in this swamp, but with God's direction, I'm finding my way out.  I want to live in the reality of how big God is.  When I'm met with a difficult situation, I want to immediately remember how God has never once left me on my own.  I want to make it to my promised land.

"Who among the gods is like You, O Lord?  Who is like You - majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?...In Your unfailing love You will lead the people You have redeemed.  In Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling."  (Exodus 15:11-13) 

If you missed it, read Part 1 of this post here! 

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