February 5 – A Selfish View of God

“A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord.” (Proverbs 19:3)

IN WORD:
The problem is almost universal. As participants in the human rebellion, we have all acted foolishly. Any time we have lived without thought of the Lord’s will in a matter, any time we have not stirred up our love for Him, and any time we have intentionally acted in our own best interests without concern for the consequences to others, we have welcomed a sense of separation between us and our Creator. It is part & parcel of fallen human nature to put distance between God and ourselves. We can serve ourselves better that way. In our times of independence, we don’t want Him getting too close.
But when trouble comes, we cry out to God as though we’re the most helpless of victims. What’s worse, we often cry out with a hint of accusation: “Why are You doing this to me?” We frequently fail to make a vital connection between our willful independence in our times of self-sufficiency and the seeming absence of God in our times of need. It doesn’t occur to us that when we keep God on the periphery of out lives, we have no business accusing Him of not “being there” for us when we need Him.
Proverbs calls this “folly.” It is utter foolishness to set ourselves up as self-directed people when times are easy, get ourselves into trouble, and then appeal to God’s fatherly obligations. But we inherited foolishness in the Fall of humanity. We are genetically prone to want a convenient God who is there when we need Him and will leave us alone when we don’t.

IN DEED:
What is the solution to this selfish view of God? It isn’t to stop calling on Him in times of trouble. He welcomes that — even commands it. The solution is to let Him be the integral and intimate foundation of our lives now, before trouble comes. Then our cries to Him will be will be the pleasing voice of a treasured child, and when we need Him, He will show Himself strong on our behalf.

“Some folks treat God like a lawyer. They go to Him only when they are in trouble.” -Anonymous-