I don’t “get” God. But, I choose to trust Him.
“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you
may not understand at the time.”
~ Oswald Chambers~
I have a confession, I don’t “get” much of God.
Just a short list of things I don’t “get” about God…
1) Sin… (of all kinds) if God is sovereign.. (which I believe) then, why let us sin? ( I know the theological explanations… it’s the reality of it that is dumbfounding)
2) Sickness, pain, suffering and loss….
3) PMS (ok… not everything I don’t understand about God and his plan is a “10”
4) The differences between men and women…you’d think we could be a little more compatible!;)
5) Love your enemies….I get that we should.. just not the HOW….
6) Injustice… when the “evil” prosper… in plan or in life…..
The list could continue, indefinitely. Even after 20+ years of loving and getting to know God, there is so much I don’t “get”. So many questions, I don’t have, or understand the answers to.
Yet, what I do know of God- compels me to trust Him. It’s not that God shows me the answers to my questions, but that He slowly reveals more and more of himself, his character, to me… that causes me to choose to trust, to have deliberate faith, not int the circumstances that I can see, but in His character, which I know.
There have been circumstances in my life, where I have questioned God. Big and small things that haven’t made sense to me. Like so many, I’ve faced my share of things that have felt like more than I could bear. In those times, I’ve aasked God every hard and (sometimes) ugly question. (I tend to lay things on the line, with God-and I figure God knows what’s in my heart- so there is no point trying to sound “good” when I’m praying)
God has often chosen not to answer my questions. Instead, He tells me- or shows me more about His character. Usually, throught the very circumstances that caused the questioning, I experience some aspect of His character, that I had so far not grasped.
Here are just a few of those things:
The Character of God:
Exodus 15:2
The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is my song… in my deepest moments of struggle and pain, I have found indescribible joy in His presense, singing praise to Him, and finding peace.
Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
God loves me too much, to let me turn to false Gods…. like control, food for comfort, etc…His love consumes me.
1 Chronicles 28:20
David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.
When I’ve stepped out in fearful faith, I experience Him WITH me….
Jeremiah 10:10
But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King.
He is living and near- my true God, even when circumstances and choices say He should have left me in my sin….
Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
He is faithful, even when I am not.
John 4: 16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
I’ve experienced His love- in the love He gives others…for me
Psalm 77:13
“Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?”
In the end- God is holy- and right. Always.
2 Corinthinians 6:16
As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Walking with me… I love that God walks with me.
Hebrews 6:17-19
“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain”
God does not lie— His promises never fail… I am over and over amazed- that even when it seems like there is no way- God has already made one, EVERY single time He’s promised…
Today- in the comments- can you add verses or thoughts on apsects of God’s character that you have come to know and trust- regardless of the things you don’t “get” about Him?
Dear Lord- there is so much we don’t understand. I pray that we can choose to have a deliberate confidence, not in our circumstances, but in your character, as revealed in your word- and our lives- I love you Lord- and ask you to bring your Spirit into our lives to bring your character into our understanding- amen.
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Psalm 40:2-3
Jeremiah 29:10-12
This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
I don’t understand His gracious promises, how He makes a prosperous future out of the mess I sometimes see, or why He continually listens to my prayers, but I’m so glad He does!
Great post!
Great idea to share Scripture this morning, Tracey 🙂
In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.
O LORD God Almighty, who is like you?
You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
You rule over the surging sea;
when its waves mount up, you still them. ~ Psalm 89:7-9
Blessings to you today and always.
Well said…We may never ‘get it’ while we’re earthbound…that’s for sure.
Glad to know we don’t have to “get Him” but trust Him and He will do as He does. Praise the Lord that He is who He says He is.
This is the way I see it, if everyone were prefect and there was no “bad” in the world, then what would we NEED God for? Once He “set us up” we would be good to go, without needing Him. I don’t feel we are His puppets, He did, after all, give us free will.
He does not control us nor push us where He wants us to go. Like any good parent, He gives us choices and is there to applaud us in doing well or support us in the reprecussions of doing poorly.
None of it makes sense, but that’s the point that we started with, isn’t it??
I taught Ephraim to walk, Taking them by their arms; But they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them. — God, Hosea 11:3-4 NKJV
God gave Israel (Ephraim) such tender loving care, didn’t He? Ever wonder how many times God stoops over to take care of us throughout our days, weeks, months and years?
I’m doing a lot of soulsearching about God lately. I think one verse that really is hitting home today is John 14:6: “Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one can come unto the Father but by me.”
I am loving hearing what God is saying to each of our hearts…. amazing— Janna… that verse in particular is very special to me—I really felt it impressed on my heart when my little guy was learning to walk, that God was saying- I teach you to walk with the same patience and love… I don’;t scream and yell when you fall…. I lift you up- with a Fathers loving hands…
Beautiful…there’s a lot I don’t get either. He reveals some in His time while we are on earth, and the rest He is saving for us. I just have faith.
no 1 – free will? btw I enjoyed reading your honest thoughts, I confess I sometimes have these thoughts myself.
I don’t get it all either! I loved what you wrote, and shared from your heart, and yet, isn’t it beautiful how we can trust and believe. SOMEDAY it will make sense – or it won’t matter anymore either.
Loni
It’s great to know we don’t HAVE to get it all…that’s where Faith enters. 🙂
Isaiah 62:1 says:
“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet. Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness,
And her salvation like a torch that is burning.” Replace Zion and Jerusalem with your own name…
The Lord will not keep silent for my sake…I am so glad He didn’t.
How true those words are. One thing I have come to know about God, from VAST personal experience, is that God will never lead me astray in the choices that I make as long as I do them according to His will. When I chose to make my own choices, I always end up where I should not be or with a pale, brassy, second rate imitation of what God would have given me if I had only listened to Him and trusted Him. Thanks for this IOW post!
Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Amen! This post really spoke to me. Thank you!