Faith
Lately there has been something that has bothered me in my life. It has been my lack of humility, my lack of understanding that God is God! He is not my genie, not my servant, not just my go-to guy, and not just my friend, He is my Lord and Savior, and I am His creation! The crazy thing to me is that instead of the stinging slap to the cheek that I so richly deserve for taking Him for granted, He gives me gentle reproach with a heart of love that begs me to change, and offers me a second chance. I guess that is where we often go wrong. Because He so honestly loves us, we take him for granted. Our intimacy with Him can be such that we kind of forget that without Him we wouldn’t be here! I find that the part of salvation that requires us to give our hearts to Christ is really the easy part; the hard part is in giving our lives to Christ.
So many times I have played hot potato with God juggling my life back and forth, only giving Him control when I know the buzzer is about to sound. He’s my safe place. Then the music starts again and again I take control. It’s been some kind of game to me, “Okay let’s see how much I can mess up my life before I have to give Him control again.” I see Him as maybe clicking His tongue at me or shaking His head. I never see Him get angry with me, but perhaps I should.
In this power struggle between me and God, I always saw Him as the vulnerable one. “He needs me to do His work!” Oh how wrong I was! As God always does, He used His word to correct me. He led me to the prophets, Elijah, Jeremiah, and even Amos, men called by God to declare His judgement to the people. He was fed up, tired of their games and the power struggle so He drew a line in the sand. God’s wrath was about to fall, and I am sure they would have taken a beating with a hose over what was in store for them and their children!
That taught me one very important lesson (as I would say to the youth I used to teach) “God don’t play!” He’s patient and loving, but He is righteous, too! He is more than just a friend, in His own words He is “the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end!” He is more than just a great guy, a fine prophet, who taught us how we should live; He gave us life so that we could live! He is more than just someone that we can go to when we need help, He is the God who made a barrier for the sea and calms the wind with a word! And yet, with all that authority with all that power, He didn’t cave! He died for me! He died for you! Not for His good, but for our good! And in light of my salvation, I am humbled at His might so I fall at His feet and I praise Him. For by His design I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and so are you! The verse, “Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought…” whispers through my head each day as I weigh how small I am and how great He is! The Message says it this way:
“I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.”
Isn’t that perfect!? So, in acknowledgement of that, in gratitude of all that He has done for me, I humbly bow before Him and offer Him just a small portion of the honor that He has given me. I marvel at my God when I realize that the One that holds my hand, created the very hand that He caresses.
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My name is Jeff Gante. Thank you for your encouraging comments about my article, "God's Supply House". I am happy that it is a blessing to those who read.
I also want to encourage you in the fine article which you have written, "I marvel at my God".
You have written a down-to-earth piece with passion, sweetness, and a clear understanding of the sovereignty of our Great God. I too have struggled through the years with apathy and taking my faith for granted. You remind us all to be faithful to our loving creator.