Greetings to you in the name of the One who holds all things together, Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! I trust that you had a good weekend and Monday-Tuesday with a generous supply of blessings – both expected and unexpected. It looks like some warm weather is returning to our area so…we are going to have to keep reminding ourselves…”This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad about it!” Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to surround you and your family with an acute awareness of His presence.
God seems to get a lot of bad “PR”! I have been paying attention to an approach to life that when it works we take credit and when it doesn’t work we shift the blame onto God’s shoulders. Maybe you have noticed this too, a problem or situation or circumstance or challenge appears in a person’s life and the immediate response is – I can do it! I can handle it! I’ve got an answer! I’ll simply do this or that or something else! This continues for some time until finally you hear the words: I guess God is deaf or on vacation or busy or whatever…when in fact He was never consulted at all. Somehow everything that hasn’t worked…and usually made things worse becomes His fault.
I think that we assume that since we “believe” in Him and say we “belong” to Him – that our approach to life must be the way He would do things therefore, we don’t have to consult with Him. After all, what does God really know about vacation planning or financial planning or family planning or dealing with health issues or relationship problems in the home or living Christian life in the church…and besides, He gave us a brain and common sense.
Yes, and He gave us a book that is filled with advice and counsel on just about everything we need to know about life. Don’t we say: “Christ is the answer!”…if we would only ask the right questions. I have said to people that I have now reached the point in my Christian journey where I have the answer to every question about life there is – and the answer is: “I don’t know!” – If any of you lacks wisdom (gets to the point where they can say “I don’t know”), he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt…” James 1:5-6a NIV. It is really significant that the element of faith…expecting to get the answer is highlighted.
In a response to a – “how did you do that question” the disciple, Peter, says: “By faith in the name of Jesus…” Acts 3:16a NIV – not in the ‘name’ but by ‘faith in the name of Jesus’. If we are going to get some proper “PR” for God we have to learn and relearn – and consistently practice “taking everything to God in prayer” before we try doing stuff on our own.
Something to ponder…be blessed!