If you remain in me
and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 15:7
No temptation has
overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will
not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he
will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Many a Bible-believing Christian has quoted these and many
other verses about what the Lord will do for His people. AND RIGHTLY SO! The Word
tells us to meditate upon, memorize, and live with His Word on a daily basis
(see Deuteronomy 6 and 11).
However, these wonderful promises of God are not statements
of entitlement. Rather, they reveal the heart of a benevolent and gracious God.
Yes, we are accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6), but our blessed state is
the result of God’s grace; not a reflection of our worthiness.
I was in a conversation with a friend relaying the fact that
although I was in a particularly tough season of life, I did not feel like God
had abandoned me. Rather, I was keenly aware of His presence in that season. I
saw His movement all around me and in my circumstances. But I was baffled that while
I knew the Lord was WELL ABLE to relieve me from the circumstances, He chose
not to. My wise friend gently pointed out that I was expressing that emotion
from a sense of entitlement—at some level I felt like I had a right to be
relieved from what I was going through. He was transparent enough to admit that
he too, at times, struggled with a sense of entitlement. Can you relate to that
at all? You likely wouldn’t label it like that but let’s examine that thought a
bit…
Maybe you tithe faithfully, maybe you feed the homeless,
maybe you visit and minister to prisoners, maybe you volunteer with sick
children or cancer patients, perhaps you serve the elderly in your community, support
battered women, or maybe you intentionally live below your means just so that
you have resources to give away to the needy. So now when the Lord takes away
your loved one or afflicts you with a debilitating, degenerative disease, or
you get laid-off, or your spouse betrays you do you ask “why?” Does it ever
cross your mind to remind the Lord that you have been a faithful and committed person
and you don’t know why He’d allow something so horrible to happen to you? Or
maybe you have asked this on behalf of a loved one who you know is faithful and
good. Do you ever say to Him, “I know you CAN do something Lord, but I don’t
understand why you WON’T????”
That comes from place of…gulp…entitlement. I’m choking on
the word even as I write it! It sounds
harsh and wrong to say that! And I don’t like it, to be quite frank with you. But
somehow—and it might be at a very deep subconscious level—we think that good
people shouldn’t have to deal with bad, unfair, evil, wrong, hurtful,
devastating things.
But here’s another scripture: “…In this world you will have
trouble…” John 16:33b UGH! These are the very words of Christ! So that presents
us with a problem right off the bat!
Further, we know that “We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered
off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.” (Isaiah
53:6) and that “When people sin, they earn what sin pays—death.” (Romans 6:23a)
But what God gives is His grace. It’s by God’s grace that we experience the
amazing blessings that we experience; not because we have somehow earned these
things. So it happens that we can experience the blessings of God AND also
experience this trouble that Christ promised us, all at the same time. As
believers, we are not exempt from trouble and we may not get the relief we
desire in the timing we desire. But, thankfully, we do have the best trouble
manager on our side.
In response to this truth, we would do well to humble
ourselves and be thankful for all the wonderfulness that is a part of our lives,
to lean on Him for strength to handle the trouble (Isaiah 40:29-31), and to be
very careful not to think that we are somehow entitled to any good—but, rather,
to marvel at and appreciate that God gives all of His blessings freely (2
Corinthians 9:8) because He loves us and has chosen us (Ephesians 1:4, John
15:16).
Be encouraged…
“I have told you these
things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have troubles.
But be brave! I have defeated the world!” John 16:33
No comments:
Post a Comment