Faith
Well, I find myself at a women's Bible study. My choice would have been to explore current events and/or the persecuted church, or other more gritty and gender-neutral topics, but here I am with a(nother) girly book _Lies Women Believe_ by Nancy DeMoss. To my surprise, points she raises have actually engaged me.
1. If I had never been to church or read a Bible, would I believe a good God exists?
I'd honestly have to admit, if you count up the balance sheets, at best it's 50/50. But I have chosen to believe in a good God, even if I don't understand all He does. I similarly have chosen to love my husband, even though we don't always agree and I don't always understand his perspective. On both fronts, I'm in it for the long haul.
2. Even if God doesn't "fix my problems," He loves me and is good.
Step back, get a perspective. God is not about the business of erasing pain. He is "more concerned about glorifying Himself and changing me than about solving all my problems" (pg. 59). Problems can be the path to sanctification. Problems can be an avenue for experiencing grace.
It's hard not to think of the headline-grabbing murders of the Amish girls in Lancaster County, PA, when considering "all things work together for good..." This horrible event has put Christ's forgiveness in newscasts and papers in a way that countless Christmases and Easters have failed to do. The Amish were so quick to speak forgiveness that people reeled. If even a fraction of the population recognizes the profound implications of a forgiveness-lifestyle, God can be glorified.
3. Instead of counting the usual mundane blessings, DeMoss's workbook suggests we look up Ephesians 1:3-14, and extract the eternal blessings God bestows:
Every spiritual blessing, adoption as sons, redemption, forgiveness of trespasses, knowledge of His will, an inheritance beyond compare.
I'm weary of shallow, grocery-list prayers that so often occupy prayer-groups. I've had enough of the disillusionment of "unanswered" prayer. I am reminded that Christ has instructed us to seek first God's kingdom. How this exactly will materialize in my life has yet to be seen, but I'm thankful for it. Enough blogging for now, I need to read this week's lesson.
1. If I had never been to church or read a Bible, would I believe a good God exists?
I'd honestly have to admit, if you count up the balance sheets, at best it's 50/50. But I have chosen to believe in a good God, even if I don't understand all He does. I similarly have chosen to love my husband, even though we don't always agree and I don't always understand his perspective. On both fronts, I'm in it for the long haul.
2. Even if God doesn't "fix my problems," He loves me and is good.
Step back, get a perspective. God is not about the business of erasing pain. He is "more concerned about glorifying Himself and changing me than about solving all my problems" (pg. 59). Problems can be the path to sanctification. Problems can be an avenue for experiencing grace.
It's hard not to think of the headline-grabbing murders of the Amish girls in Lancaster County, PA, when considering "all things work together for good..." This horrible event has put Christ's forgiveness in newscasts and papers in a way that countless Christmases and Easters have failed to do. The Amish were so quick to speak forgiveness that people reeled. If even a fraction of the population recognizes the profound implications of a forgiveness-lifestyle, God can be glorified.
3. Instead of counting the usual mundane blessings, DeMoss's workbook suggests we look up Ephesians 1:3-14, and extract the eternal blessings God bestows:
Every spiritual blessing, adoption as sons, redemption, forgiveness of trespasses, knowledge of His will, an inheritance beyond compare.
I'm weary of shallow, grocery-list prayers that so often occupy prayer-groups. I've had enough of the disillusionment of "unanswered" prayer. I am reminded that Christ has instructed us to seek first God's kingdom. How this exactly will materialize in my life has yet to be seen, but I'm thankful for it. Enough blogging for now, I need to read this week's lesson.
2 Comments:
You know, I actually think I would believe a good God exists. I can't explain why, really. But I know going to church and reading the bible does not necessarily make a person believe in God at all, good or bad. A person must be called to God to start growing in faith. Maybe that's what causes people to believe in a good God. God speaks to people. When God speaks to me, I have no choice but to believe him and trust him. Maybe it's how he speaks to people. I guess one gets a glimpse of the character of God when he speaks. Or maybe it's just that I'm an eternal optimist
Ironically, I think I have a harder time believing in God's goodness because I go to church and observe Christianity in its many ugly mutations. (I don't say that in reference to my church--I like my church--but in my short life I've seen enough terrible, hypocritical things done by Christians to fill a very large dumpster.)
God is easy. People are difficult.
Of course, that's a very simplistic thing to say because God isn't easy. And anyone who reads the Bible, or who lives life--or both--probably eventually runs into the paradox of the "easy yoke" and the "narrow path."
I think maybe we let our definition of "good" fall into the category of "what I can explain or control." For example, "God is good because He gives me what I want." Or, "God is good because He takes away the painful things in my life." And sometimes He does. And, of course, this is good.
But how completely outside our thinking would it be to imagine that God's goodness overshadows our definition of it? How would our theology of God change with the realization that "good" might sometimes be the most inexplicably painful thing we've ever experienced? The most dreadfully unfair thing that has ever happened to us?
"Good" is a measure of perspective and comparison, and I don't know that we have the capacity to fully judge it.
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