He’s a little frustrated with God – a new experience, at least in his conscious mind, although it’s probably been a growing reality for a while.
As a Christian, getting frustrated or, heaven forbid, angry with God is really not acceptable. Any hint of it should be quickly met with repentance, and self-flagellation or maybe just the easier route, denial. You see, He has a problem; it doesn’t matter what it is, but it’s real and poignant, and the outcome is uncertain. Dealing with it is like swimming in mud, and God isn’t fixing it!
A moment of honest prayer went something like this, “ If you’re the God who made everything and cares about all of us, then you’ve got to fix this.” Make no mistake; this wasn’t so much a prayer of surrender as of frustration. Then, out of the blue, when he wasn’t asking or listening, he became aware of God. While “prayerfully” wallowing in his problems, God said something like, “You want Me to work on the things that are important to you, but who’s praying for the things that are important to Me?”
He was ashamed as a litany of the people, places, organizations, programs, and initiatives that are in desperate need paraded through his mind. Things that are in need of time, attention, money, love, prayer. He felt small. Not because he was unimportant to God, but because he’d become way too important to himself. He was reminded that God has an agenda (Jeremiah 29:11), and it’s not our agenda (Isaiah 55:8-9).
So the question we all must ask is, What kind of a God do we want? Do we want a god in a bottle who pops out on demand, does our bidding, then conveniently returns to his bottle until needed again? Or do we want a God who made plans for us before the foundations of the world? Do we want a god who will bless our plans? Or a God who graciously allows us to participate in His? In short, do we want God or an idol?
Truth be told, many of us just want a genie, a god who will hear our problems, listen to our solutions, and implement them. But there’s a better way, and I want to want it.
However, as we move toward Gods’ agenda and away from ours, there’s another learning; As long as we keep frustrations to ourselves, deny our depravity, and put on a false face before God, idolatry will continue like a festering sore. But we need not live in a state of denial or self-flagellation – nor hide our anger, frustration, disappointment, impatience, self-importance, and arrogance. As we approach God honestly and give our garbage to him, he will take it and do with it as he sees fit. We can bring our crud to God. Because . . .
”We have a chief priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way that we are, but he didn’t sin. So we can go confidently to the throne of God’s kindness to receive mercy and find kindness, which will help us at the right time.” Hebrews 4:15-16 (GOD’S WORD Translation)
This God we profess is not a magical servant or a cruel master. He is our loving Father, Redeemer, and Savior. When we get that, it changes everything.
John Monday
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