Do your children always know the good that you are doing for them? My daughter is at a stage in her development where she loves to explore and discover. But that can sometimes be a dangerous thing. There are things she shouldn’t touch or put in her mouth. Sometimes when we take these things away, she screams. She doesn’t understand that we are taking these things away for her good. She reminds me of my tendencies regarding my relationship with my heavenly Father. God doesn’t merely give; sometimes, he takes away. Job reminds us of that truth. “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21, NLT) When He takes things away, it is not because He is unloving; instead, it’s the complete opposite. It is because He cares for us that He deprives us of certain things. We might be okay with the fact of God taking away something that would harm us. After all, this is what we do for our children. We cover the electrical sockets, put locks on doors, block off rooms or dangers with baby gates, take away small things they could choke on, even rip out garbage from their hands, all in attempts to protect them. But here’s the question we need to ask, “What does God believe is harmful to us?” You see, we often have a different outlook than our heavenly Father does. My daughter and I have different perspectives. If she could choose whether to cover the sockets or put locks on doors, she wouldn’t choose it. She doesn’t see the danger in them. We do, and that’s why we take them away. Like my daughter, I sometimes don’t recognize the harm in things that my heavenly father takes away from me. So, back to the question, “what does God believe is harmful to us?” I encourage you to grapple with that question as you study your bible this week. Right now, I want to present two things that may help us understand the situation we are facing today. First, God has determined that pursuits that draw us away from Him are harmful. “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them…” (Exodus 20:3-5) A god or graven image is anything that takes God’s rightful preeminent place in our life. These gods can be physical or invisible. Money, luxuries, employment, education, politics, sports, popularity, beauty, health, positions of influence, and even family can become gods in our life. To pursue these things above God, spending our time, attention, and resources is to worship them. The list above may be full of good things. The question we need to ask, though, is this, “What is life all about?” I think John Piper puts it quite plainly, “The chief purpose of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever”. These pursuits that draw us away from Him robs us of that pleasure. Therefore, God sometimes takes away these things so that we may once again pursue Him and find the most profound joy imaginable in Him. Second, God has determined that complacency is harmful. He says these words to the church of Laodicea. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16) The church here was complacent in their faith. Complacency is the attitude of being satisfied with oneself or one’s achievements and possessions. The danger of complacency is that we stop pursuing God. Why do we need to seek him if we think we have all that we need? So, how does God confront this? He begins to remove those things in our life that foster this attitude so that we may continue to seek after Him. God doesn’t take things away to deprive us of life but to lead us into an abundance of it. Listen to this promise that Jesus made: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10) The problem is that we equate life with stuff and privileges. But stuff doesn’t meet our most pressing concerns. Let’s be honest with ourselves. We struggle with anxiety, depression, loneliness, guilt, weakness, discouragement, emptiness. The person with even the most toys finds that these things don’t meet these needs. The life that God leads us into is one where we experience peace, joy, companionship, forgiveness, strength, and true satisfaction. And sometimes, God must take things away so that we may enjoy this life. In Psalm 23, David calls God - Yahweh Ra'ah - the Lord is my Shepherd. A shepherd leads his sheep into good pastures. He removes certain things that could cause his sheep to get sick or die. Yet, he always makes sure that his sheep have what they truly need. And that is the way God leads us. Now there are two ways we could respond. We could be like my daughter and complain, or we could thank God and trust that He is doing what is best for us. How you respond shows who you believe God to be.
2 Comments
BILL J WRIGHT
1/22/2021 10:23:42 pm
Thank-you for the article.
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David Hanson
1/23/2021 07:26:53 am
You're welcome. Hope it encouraged you and spurred on additional thought.
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