I found this on Aaron Shust's website. Thought I'd share it here.
"When I have a good day, I say, “God, thank you. You are really blessing me.” Blessing is a word that I only hear Christians use. I have heard it means to “speak well about a thing”, but I think it’s used more often in the sense of I need a raise, or a gift, or something specific. “God, bless me” in this context means: I want my business to do well, or I want a motorcycle, or I want to pay my rent this month.
When I’m having a bad day, I say, “God, don’t forget me. Please hear my prayers”, as if He may have forgotten about me.
One of my favorite communicators, Bill Bahr, tells a story of a man who, through a series of events, misses his flight and, when the plane crashes and everyone dies, an article is written in a Christian publication saying, “God was watching out for him.” Not long after that article appeared, another article is written by the wife of a man who, by a series of seemingly miraculous events, made it onto that flight, and the last communication that they had was waving goodbye to each other with joy in their hearts at how God had orchestrated events that allowed him to make his flight...that would take him to his death. So who was God really looking out for? Was God working in one man’s life and not the other?
Some people are healed of cancer after much prayer. Many people die of cancer even after much prayer. Some people are born physically beautiful and with robust health; other people are born with physical deformities and terrible diseases. Who is God looking out for in these situations? The answer is that it is not in our capacity to understand.
Too often my perception of how God should operate is focused on how He should make my life better- according to me. But one of the reasons His name is “God” is because He is smarter, wiser, and infinitely better (perfect actually) than me in all areas. I can’t figure out the reasoning behind all that God does. But I know that I am loved by Him because I FEEL it! I know with my heart that the promises written in the Bible are true. Is this an act of faith? Absolutely. But it is like feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin; there can be no question that there is really a ball of fire in the sky.
So I have to realize that, whether I am looking at one stitch on the back of a tapestry and God is looking at the entire picture on the front, or “I may have a point of view, but God has view,” the bottom line is: I am not skilled to grasp all that God has planned and I’m okay with that. Because His ways are infinitely higher than mine. And I trust Him."
God belss,
Nigh
"When I have a good day, I say, “God, thank you. You are really blessing me.” Blessing is a word that I only hear Christians use. I have heard it means to “speak well about a thing”, but I think it’s used more often in the sense of I need a raise, or a gift, or something specific. “God, bless me” in this context means: I want my business to do well, or I want a motorcycle, or I want to pay my rent this month.
When I’m having a bad day, I say, “God, don’t forget me. Please hear my prayers”, as if He may have forgotten about me.
One of my favorite communicators, Bill Bahr, tells a story of a man who, through a series of events, misses his flight and, when the plane crashes and everyone dies, an article is written in a Christian publication saying, “God was watching out for him.” Not long after that article appeared, another article is written by the wife of a man who, by a series of seemingly miraculous events, made it onto that flight, and the last communication that they had was waving goodbye to each other with joy in their hearts at how God had orchestrated events that allowed him to make his flight...that would take him to his death. So who was God really looking out for? Was God working in one man’s life and not the other?
Some people are healed of cancer after much prayer. Many people die of cancer even after much prayer. Some people are born physically beautiful and with robust health; other people are born with physical deformities and terrible diseases. Who is God looking out for in these situations? The answer is that it is not in our capacity to understand.
Too often my perception of how God should operate is focused on how He should make my life better- according to me. But one of the reasons His name is “God” is because He is smarter, wiser, and infinitely better (perfect actually) than me in all areas. I can’t figure out the reasoning behind all that God does. But I know that I am loved by Him because I FEEL it! I know with my heart that the promises written in the Bible are true. Is this an act of faith? Absolutely. But it is like feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin; there can be no question that there is really a ball of fire in the sky.
So I have to realize that, whether I am looking at one stitch on the back of a tapestry and God is looking at the entire picture on the front, or “I may have a point of view, but God has view,” the bottom line is: I am not skilled to grasp all that God has planned and I’m okay with that. Because His ways are infinitely higher than mine. And I trust Him."
God belss,
Nigh
