Do you love God or just what He can do for you?
Psalm 22:1 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?"
David was obviously going through a trial in his life. It was a time where David could not feel God's presence, though he desperately needed it and wanted it.
The reality is that God is always present, always aware of us and what we are going through. Whether we feel His presence or not, He is there.
This leads to a hard question to answer - if God is always present and He loves us, why does He allow us to go through trials and suffering? There is a basic underlying assumption behind this question that we must identify and examine. The assumption is that if He is present and loves us, that should translate into a nice, cushy, always peaceful existence for us. To experience pain and trial, therefore, calls into question whether God is paying attention and/or whether He truly loves us.
The fact is that God's love for us does not obligate Him to maintain constant peace and tranquility in our lives. When we experience pain and trial, it is not because He has temporarily lost control or is busy elsewhere.
We need look no further than the life of Jesus, whom it is impossible to argue that God did not love. If God was ever obligated to provide a peaceful, happy life 100% of the time to anyone, wouldn't it be His one and only Son? But an examination of Jesus' life shows anything but a constantly tranquil existence. Jesus suffered as much or more than anyone, causing Him to repeat this verse while dying on the cross.
How can we expect (and feel as if we deserve) to be constantly happy and always provided for in this life simply because of our relationship with God? Why are we caught off guard when God allows us to go through times of pain and suffering when the same thing happened to His own precious Son?
The problem is not the bad things we experience in this world - it is our false sense that we are entitled to and deserve something better than what we receive. When we accept God's invitation, we gain Him. Period. A relationship with God, like a relationship with our spouse, entitles us to good times and bad, richer or poorer. Thankfully, though, when hard times come, we know the One who is constantly with us whether or not we feel His presence. We can also know that the times of greatest growth and learning are those times where we lean most heavily on Him and depend on His deliverance.
David was obviously going through a trial in his life. It was a time where David could not feel God's presence, though he desperately needed it and wanted it.
The reality is that God is always present, always aware of us and what we are going through. Whether we feel His presence or not, He is there.
This leads to a hard question to answer - if God is always present and He loves us, why does He allow us to go through trials and suffering? There is a basic underlying assumption behind this question that we must identify and examine. The assumption is that if He is present and loves us, that should translate into a nice, cushy, always peaceful existence for us. To experience pain and trial, therefore, calls into question whether God is paying attention and/or whether He truly loves us.
The fact is that God's love for us does not obligate Him to maintain constant peace and tranquility in our lives. When we experience pain and trial, it is not because He has temporarily lost control or is busy elsewhere.
We need look no further than the life of Jesus, whom it is impossible to argue that God did not love. If God was ever obligated to provide a peaceful, happy life 100% of the time to anyone, wouldn't it be His one and only Son? But an examination of Jesus' life shows anything but a constantly tranquil existence. Jesus suffered as much or more than anyone, causing Him to repeat this verse while dying on the cross.
How can we expect (and feel as if we deserve) to be constantly happy and always provided for in this life simply because of our relationship with God? Why are we caught off guard when God allows us to go through times of pain and suffering when the same thing happened to His own precious Son?
The problem is not the bad things we experience in this world - it is our false sense that we are entitled to and deserve something better than what we receive. When we accept God's invitation, we gain Him. Period. A relationship with God, like a relationship with our spouse, entitles us to good times and bad, richer or poorer. Thankfully, though, when hard times come, we know the One who is constantly with us whether or not we feel His presence. We can also know that the times of greatest growth and learning are those times where we lean most heavily on Him and depend on His deliverance.
posted by Robert Jory Allen at
3:39 AM
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