I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the need to watch who and what we are trusting (last week just kind of got away from me, so no blog post). This week, I want to talk a little bit more about trust - or, more accurately, mistrust and unbelief - and its impact on our lives and destinies.
A lot of people think that it was Moses’ disobedience that led to God saying he couldn’t enter the promised land after the affair with the rock he struck to get water out of instead of speaking to it like God told him to. And while that was the incident that made up God’s mind, it wasn’t Moses’ disobedience that He called out as the reason.
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“I’m just naturally untrusting” - Rene Thompson, a character in a book my dad wrote years ago.
While many of us may not quote Rene exactly - or at least, we wouldn’t say it in so many words, the reality is that quite a lot of people feel that way deep down. We’re not quite so sure we want to trust people, ourselves, or even (and for some people, especially) God. It comes out in our behavior all the time. “Complaining is the prayer language of hell.” - Graham Cooke
This week, I want to touch on another aspect of sin that can keep you from entering your destiny quickly - or at all. Last week, I talked about idolatry and its role in keeping people out of their destinies, but this week, I want to talk about an even less popular subject: Complaining. Most of us aren’t aware of how much we complain every day. If we stopped long enough to listen to our words, reread our social media posts, or review the thoughts that were going through our brains, I think we’d be downright shocked at how many complaints are in our hearts. When a lot of us think of idols, we think of statues of wood, bronze, stone, gold, silver, or just about any other readily available material. To many of us, these things are a thing of the past - from Bible times, perhaps. Or if they’re not of the past, they’re definitely confined to less Westernized cultures. After all, we’re simply too concrete to worship something that cannot talk, eat, or do anything else for itself. We’re rational beings!
But the truth is that idols are everywhere. They’re present in everyone’s lives, and the real danger of them is that so many of them are acceptable in our Western culture. They exist in the world, in the church, and in our own lives. Why do we have such an obsession with royalty?
This question came to mind after I was thinking about people’s fascination with the various royal families that have managed to survive in our democratic era (an obsession that I shamelessly share). The British royal family is undoubtedly the best known, but many other nations have kept a figurehead with the title of king or queen (they’re called constitutional monarchies in case you were curious). A few select nations have even kept around their absolute monarchies (monarchs with total power over the government). There are a lot of movements out there these days. New ones seem to pop up all the time - and some last a lifetime or even beyond a lifetime while others quietly fade away. And, of course, there are a select few that blow up in the flames of a scandal that takes it under.
Many of these movements started with good intentions. Many were started in the move of the Holy Spirit or in response to a perceived need. Plenty started on a Biblical foundation. Why is it, then, that so many moves that started so well end so badly? Or even if they don’t end badly, why do they get phased out or simply seem to lose their sparkle after a while? How do you see yourself? How do you like yourself? What thoughts do you think about yourself?
These are questions we might not often think to put to ourselves, but the truth is that the way we see ourselves has a pretty big influence on the way we act, the way we think, and the way we treat others. It also affects our perception of how we are treated. We hear countless stories about people who feel mistreated, unheard, and unloved. And to be sure, there are plenty of situations where people are treated wrongly, aren’t heard well, and perhaps even are unloved. But I wonder sometimes if some of what we feel wasn’t given to us by others, but rather by our own insecurities. I wrote last week about the purpose of pain, promising a second post on the subject. This week, I want to take the foundation I shared last week and build on it. Why does God allow pain when He could very easily prevent it in His power? Why does He lead us through the desert when other roads would be so much easier?
This is a question we have to deal with before healing can fully come because it directly impacts our relationship with the Healer. For those who don’t understand the nature of God, this question most likely causes them to shrug and see God as cruel and unfeeling. For those who do understand, at least somewhat, the nature of God, this question can raise feelings of doubt. He’s supposed to be loving, right? So why doesn’t He stop pain from coming into our lives? Sometimes, life doesn’t exactly go the way you planned or the way you would have liked. Sometimes, it’s downright frustrating, and other times, it hurts so much you wonder if the pain will ever go away. Trauma comes and goes, seasons fade and are rebirthed, and our lives move steadily forward, with or without our consent.
I’m more familiar with pain than I like to admit. And I, like a lot of people, am good at putting on a ‘happy face,’ soldiering on and trying to ignore the hurt. We’re absolute experts at it, despite attempts to destigmatize feeling the hard feelings in recent years. What’s life’s greatest calling? Depending on who you ask this question, you could get some different answers. Some people might say getting to the top of the social ladder. Others might say being happy. Still others would probably make some reference to the famous A.W. Tozer quote, “Life’s chief aim is to know God and enjoy Him forever.”
Personally, I think it’s something else, more related to the Tozer quote but something still more than even that - like knowing God and enjoying Him forever is only one part of the whole picture. |
Sarah GraceHi! I'm Sarah Grace, and I'm so glad you stopped by the Wings of Heaven blog! You can find short posts for easy reading or longer, more in-depth musings! I hope you're blessed! Archives
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