We Give God Too Much Credit
Think about the times when people told you that God led them to make certain life choices? Did you readily accept their decisions because God told them? Perhaps you had reservations, but kept silent because you did not wish to discourage them from listening to God. Maybe their successful outcomes made it easy to believe that God guided them. Regardless of your response, did the additional detail of God driving that person toward a decision increase your faith in God?
There are believers claiming life-choices based on divine revelation from God all the time! I know a Christian couple who got married because God led them to be together. I know a Christian couple who got married because God wanted them to be happy, although the wife was previously divorced, and the reason was not due to adultery. I know two more married couples who are having unprotected sex, but will only have children if it is what God wishes. I know Christians who make shopping decisions based on God providing items on sale. I have heard countless stories of Christians accidently taking wrong turns and divinely avoiding traffic jams, Christians' homes sold at the asking price, and it seems like Christians always have desirable outcomes at the hospital; all because God led these things to happen. This way of thinking is well explained by a story I once heard and will paraphrase as follows.
There were once three brothers walking across the street, but fail to see a semi-truck approaching and CRASH! The first brother is completely missed by the truck and claims that God saved him from injury. The second brother is injured, but lives and claims that God saved his life. The third brother gets flattened and killed, but the first and second brother joyfully claim that God took him home to heaven.
Thus, all things that happen to Christians are in the will of God and nevermind that the brothers were paying no attention in the first place. Because if Christians are required to pay attention, then they can be held accountable, and no one likes that!
There actually are times when God directs people toward specific choices in the Bible, but the immediate consequences are often not in their favor. He commands Abraham to go to a land that is already occupied, Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Ezekiel to eat bread cooked over a fire of cow dung while laying on his left side for 390 days, and Jonah to go tell Nineveh to repent. Claims of divine revelation may be more believable if all Christians who claim to be led by God describe the responsibilities they faced during the process instead of what temporal benefits they received.
Unfortunately, our churches now-a-days claim instant-gratifications as testimonies. I have heard a real testimony from a Christian who was able to buy a better model of camera at a cheaper price than the original model. Don't get me wrong. I believe in thanking God for all good things, but to turn that story into a testimony is dangerous. In that testimony, who receives the praise? The answer is God. So far, so good. For what does God receive the praise? Hmmm.... The only answer is for making my life easier, more comfortable, or more affordable. These are not the kind of outcomes for our Biblical examples. Abraham was journeying during a famine, Moses had to wander in the wilderness for forty years, God killed Ezekiel's wife and forbid him to mourn as an object lesson for the people, and Jonah became angry against God and wished for death. By the way, there are two times we read in the Bible of God verbally directing a man to take a specific wife. Joseph is commanded by the angel of the Lord to take Mary, who is already pregnant, as his wife, and Hosea is commanded to take a prostitute as his wife - not the typical romances Christians usually try to justify.
So how are Christians to know if God is leading them to make certain choices? Just like the three brothers in our illustration, Christians should pay attention. Life's decisions are made by the type of person you are. Good character drives good decisions because it includes good judgment; not good, as on a scale between bad-good-better-best, but good, as in God's goodness. And the only way to achieve good character is to learn everything you can about the God you love as if He is your future spouse with whom you hope to one day marry and spend the rest of your life. Pay attention to His character, His commands, His creation, and His Son's teachings. This is NOT done by reading the Bible! It is not enough to read the Bible, just as it is not enough to read your wedding vows. There must be intimate knowledge and intelligent understanding. Studying God's Word, finding patterns in His character, and a willingness to unlearn preconceived beliefs are essential first steps in seeing a true picture God's goodness.
For some, this means focusing on the meaning of 1 or 2 verses for a half hour instead of reading a whole chapter. Others will benefit from the use of a good concordance or an objective commentary. Eventually, discussions must take place with others who are not afraid to disagree with you. In order to better understand the nature of God, the Bible must be understood as a whole. Just as reading one line of the marital vow will tell you one thing about your spouse, the whole message of the vow should tell you about the character of your spouse. Becoming intimate with your spouse's character leads to a trust that cannot be put into words. So too our trust must be formed with God; not just believing in His existence or believing in a person's explanation of Him, but discovering Him for ourselves. That is the kind of trust for which each person should strive.
What does studying the Bible and truly trusting God have to do with giving Him credit for our decisions. (1) We have a greater appreciation for the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9 (NASB). We learn not be too quick to credit (or blame) our decisions on God and thereby risk offending the Gospel. (2) When we do credit God for His guidance, we have greater confidence because our choices should be in alignment with the characteristics learned from the Bible. (3) We learn that when true divine revelations occur, they are meant for the people receiving them and should never be used to convince others that we have special relationships with God. Such open boasting about what God tells us, is prevalent within Christian churches and in Christian literature. Our lack of humility is disturbing and is warned against in Jesus' following parable.
"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:10-14, NASB).
I challenge believers to credit God for who He is rather than for choices they make. God places a high value on obedience, but condemns boasting. If God truly leads you to start a ministry, then start the ministry, but don't parade about how God speaks to you. And don't expect God to make the ministry miraculously happen with little effort on your part. That is not His way. He is a farming-God and expect us to work. So like Abraham and Ezekiel, get to work!
23 September 2017
