There are some pretty bad ideas about God out there. An obvious one is "God" as the indulgent Santa Claus who will give us whatever we want as long as our faith is strong enough. But as we humans are wont to do, it is possible to swing to an opposite but equally wrong extreme - "God" who only deals with his children by withholding. So on the one hand you have indulgence and on the other hand you have deprivation. Neither is correct, and as my pastor pointed out, both of these "gods" are passable. Their moods and dispositions toward us are changeable depending on what we do. Do right = we get what we want. Do wrong or not do enough = retribution, displeasure, and suffering. Two possible and opposite outcomes, but essentially the same root. "Do this and live" AKA the covenant of works.
My natural bent is toward the deprivation side which is probably a combination of having weak theology most of my life and personal temperament. But circumstances play into it too. When you've been through a period of suffering and come out of it, there's the temptation to wonder, "When is the other shoe going to drop? When will the good come to an end and another period of suffering begin?" This tends to manifest when change is on the horizon and there are too many unknowns for my comfort. Even though I can point to very concrete "Ebenezers", I can begin to parse those past providences for positive or negative trends so I can brace myself to not be too disappointed when the unknowns are revealed.
But my wise daughter told me:
God is not statistics. He can't be figured out by probabilities, and humans are actually really bad at predicting those things.
God isn't the force that must find balance between good and suffering in the universe.
And most importantly, providences are not promises.
And she's right.
God's providences aren't data to be collected and parsed to get a handle on the future and possibly prepare myself for the worst. He's not like that, and I, as his child, should not dishonor him this way. My faith in God needs to be anchored in what he says about himself in his Word. I need to believe "that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." (Heb. 11:6) And to further that, here is a good Psalm for me to meditate on today:
My natural bent is toward the deprivation side which is probably a combination of having weak theology most of my life and personal temperament. But circumstances play into it too. When you've been through a period of suffering and come out of it, there's the temptation to wonder, "When is the other shoe going to drop? When will the good come to an end and another period of suffering begin?" This tends to manifest when change is on the horizon and there are too many unknowns for my comfort. Even though I can point to very concrete "Ebenezers", I can begin to parse those past providences for positive or negative trends so I can brace myself to not be too disappointed when the unknowns are revealed.
But my wise daughter told me:
God is not statistics. He can't be figured out by probabilities, and humans are actually really bad at predicting those things.
God isn't the force that must find balance between good and suffering in the universe.
And most importantly, providences are not promises.
And she's right.
God's providences aren't data to be collected and parsed to get a handle on the future and possibly prepare myself for the worst. He's not like that, and I, as his child, should not dishonor him this way. My faith in God needs to be anchored in what he says about himself in his Word. I need to believe "that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." (Heb. 11:6) And to further that, here is a good Psalm for me to meditate on today:
I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, and I will tell of Your greatness.
They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works.
All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord, and Your godly ones shall bless You.
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your power;
To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The Lord sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time.
You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.
The Lord keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever. Psalm 145
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