Good Luck?

Sometimes, as believers, we use our faith as a "good-luck-charm", hoping it will grant us "wishes". I've used it saying, "If I'm good enough or have a consistent quiet time or just trust enough, then God will let me get married." Now, did any one of those things allow me to get married? NO! Some people use it to grant "wishes" of getting pregnant, having healthy babies, over-coming disease/sickness, protection from numerous bad things, etc.

Just like the Isrealites, in 1 Samuel 4:1-11, thought that they lost the battle b/c they didn't have the Ark of the Covenant in their physical presence, so we as Christians think bad things happen b/c we have "fallen away" or aren't being "good enough".

How many times do you hear people say....
"If you just have faith, God will bring you your spouse."
"If you just have faith, God will allow you to get pregnant."
"If you will just trust Him, He will remove the cancer (or other sickness)."

Hearing it makes me want to laugh and vomit at the same time. I laugh b/c it cracks me up that people tell me what God is going to do in my life. REALLY? Only God knows what He is going to do...only God! And the part that makes me want to vomit? Well, I get very angry when I hear..."If you just have enough faith" or "If you just trust Him"....so, what you're saying is that the people who die of cancer, or who have miscarriages or who can't get pregnant, they don't have enough faith???? From what I've seen, sometimes its quite the contrary! Most of the time trials like that bring people closer to the Lord b/c they can't live one day without His sufficiency. We should all be living that way!

But my point is...its not about us!!! God NEVER leaves us!!! His plan is just different from what we are thinking....and more than likely, it isn't our plan!

The hurtful side of thinking our faith will "grant wishes" is that we are just setting our life up for failure! We get let down b/c we put expectations on God. People stay single, women don't get pregnant, babies are born with handicaps or disorders, babies/children die, parents dies, friends die. We live in a fallen world. What's interesting to me about the things listed, is that somehow God manages to make those "bad" things a blessing. Even in the hurt and even through the tears, He is there! He makes all things good for those who love Him. His "good" just looks different than we expect. We serve a sovereign God whose plan is so big we can't comprehend it!

God is still there.

Waiting.

Let your expectations go and come back to Him.

He's waiting for us to see Him for who He truly is.

All powerful.

All sovereign.

All loving.

All gracious.

God.