Kathy and I are privileged to be able to teach at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, – she in Psychology and Counseling and I in Music and Worship. One of the great joys we have is that we get to “go to work” together every morning. This is a great time for us to share and pray together without the interruptions that come during the normal routines of the day. A few days ago we had had our time of prayer and Kathy began sharing about an aspect of faith that I had not thought about: how our lack of faith is like falsely accusing God. None of us appreciates falsely being accused of doing or not doing something. It’s unfair. Yet, when we fail to trust God we are accusing God of neglect, of not caring, of not fulfilling to be who He said He would be.
I honestly had to stop and think. When I fail to trust God to take control of difficult situations, was I really accusing Him of neglect? Was I telling God, that He just wasn’t trustworthy, so I have to help Him out? It was cause for concern. My songs of praise on Sunday didn’t seem to match the fact that I was putting God on trial accusing Him of neglect throughout the week. No, I wasn’t saying this out loud, but my actions certainly were speaking louder than my words, and I’m sure that in the ears of the loving Father, these actions were louder than my praise.
Maybe I was just thinking that my lack of faith was only affecting me; after all I believed God, knew His loving care in my life, how could I accuse Him of anything but good? God is all powerful and exists self-sufficient without my praise, but my lack of faith failed to reflect His faithful nature and character. My response now is one of confession and repentance. God is faithful. I will trust. I must trust.
This really brings me to the trip home that same day. In the back of my mind I was still going over the “accusing God from lack of faith,” when we got into the car to return home. There were lots of things going on and circumstances still did not show this blazing light that God was in control. In fact, in some ways the problems that I had been facing were still as big as before. Then, as only God can do, He reveals a truth through some everyday common occurrence. As we rounded a bend, the sun was beginning to set and several clouds blocked the sun from view. Besides a beautiful site, God seemed to speak to me out of the sunset: “The power and brightness of the sun has not dimmed; it is just as strong as it was before, the only difference is a cloud has temporarily gotten between the sun and my sight.
The parallel was too clear. God’s power is never diminished by circumstances: He is God. He is never surprised at tragedy, never caught off-guard. He is God. In the light of eternity, my circumstances are as fleeting as a cloud, for nothing can really completely block out the Glory of God. My lack of faith had been partially based on the circumstances around me, and now I understood that these really could not diminish the glorious power of the Risen Christ, nor His control over all things. I trust Him.
What a day. From sunrise to sunset His mercies are everlasting!
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