I am always amazed at the ways I expect God to act. I have expectations of what God will provide for me, what God will do for me. The list is created and brought to God like a parent gives a child a list of chores to be done. Then when things do not happen as I have requested I assume it is God who has let me down. Phrases like, if God really loves me... or if God was real then why didn't he...
I often expect God to function at my beck and call, and when there is action different than I demanded I become a whining 3 year old.
What if the problem is not God at all? What if I am the problem? I realize that is a totally inappropriate question, as rarely is the problem my fault, but what if? Is it at all possible the problem is my relationship with God, not God's apparent indifference to my request?
I am not saying that if I had more faith God would do what I want. I am not saying that we all need to try harder. What am I saying? We all need to run to God. Repeatedly in the scriptures we find the writers reminding themselves and us that God does not what our human effort, or it is not through working harder in our human effort which draws us closer to God. Rather God longs to be in relationship with us. God longs to walk with us in the cool of the day. God longs to be known by us, not for what we can gain. Simply wanting to know us to be in relationship.
How do we accomplish this? The answer lies in the ways we build all relationships. Invested time, energy and effort. We must make it a priority. The challenge is found in the WIIFM. What's in It For Me? Most Americans run everything in their lives through this filter. What if life is not about what we gain, but what we give and to whom we give it to and through?
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