Expectations of God

 

Most people get disillusioned with God when they feel He isn’t protecting them, healing them, and helping them have an Abundant Life. The disappointment in the divine can be deafening, because we are told “God wills all things.” That is wrong. The Lord in Eden willed his children obey and not eat of the Forbidden fruit, “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:17). It was their disobedience that brought fear, sin, sickness, pain, suffering, and death into our world. Jesus our Lord tells the Pharisees God willed things one way, and they taught another, “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)—then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”” (Mark 7:8-13) and “He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:8-9). Often it is man made traditions that teach God wills your pain and suffering, on the contrary, He wants you to have rest and an abundant life, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light,” (Matthew 11:28-30) and “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10). 

But there are some barriers, this world is fallen which means it contains pain, tears, sickness and death, but one-day Jesus will wipe them away, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4). And we have an enemy that does bot wish us well, the Accuser of the Brethren, that devil who didn’t even spare tempting our Lord! (Mark 4:1-11). So you see, blaming God for your illness or pain or exhaustion or fear or circumstance isn’t fair. He willed we be in paradise, but our ancestors Adam and Eve chose purgatorio terra firma. We shall have paradise again as Jesus promised the man on the cross, “Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). But in this life He said, “ I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]” (John 16:33, AMPC). Not because God wills the troubles, but twin serpents of a sinful world and satan and his servants will send suffering your way. So before you cry, “why is God willing this?” Take a moment and recall He wanted us to live in paradise always, and He died on the cross to get us back into paradise, so the God you blame wants anything but pain, suffering, and death for you. Amen.