Peace family, a friend and I have been having some good conversations about faith, consequences, and struggles in life, and it made me realize how often we can say that we accept God’s grace for us, but still live our lives as though God’s acceptance of us is all up to us.
We were talking about some areas of pain and longing, and dreams that it looks like God isn’t addressing, when my friend said, “I don’t know what I’ve done so wrong, that I can’t have that.”
I have felt that way many times, Peace family, and about many things, but you know what? It isn’t true. Why do we think that God is up in Heaven, saying to himself, “You have lived unrighteously, so now I will punish you by withholding the longings of your heart, wa ha ha!” No way. God is not petty, and that is not his character. That is Satan, telling us that God is like that!
While God does hold us accountable for our actions, and by the laws of science and living in a natural world, we have to deal with the consequences and chain reactions of our actions (be they good or bad), our God is a merciful God. He provides blessings, such as rain for crops, to the just and the unjust (see Matthew 5:45). He is kind not only to believers and people who try to live righteously, but also to the ungrateful and wicked (see Luke 6:35-36). He is a good father, who will give us good gifts, not bad or hurtful imitations of what is good (Matthew 7:9-11).
He won’t give us everything that we ask for, but if we don’t have the things we long for, it is not because we have done something wrong. We really don’t deserve any of the gifts that God gives us, and we can’t earn his love. However, as believers of Christ, we can trust God when he says that he will separate our sin from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), and that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). God does not hold grudges against his children!
Peace family, when you struggle, remember His character. Remember how much he loves you. Keep asking, but keep trusting him.
You must be logged in to post a comment.