In this blog, I want to throw out some ideas that I have been struggling with concerning my value in God's eyes balanced with my selfish nature and my desire to "be valued." I have pointed out how dangerous it is to form your own views of God as opposed to searching the scriptures to see who he really is. There are so many verses to make the case for how precious we are in God's sight. For example, in Psalms 90:13, "For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will steady you with their hands to keep you from stumbling against the rocks on the trail." (TLB) That one is pretty cool. In Psalms 84:11, "No good thing will he withhold from those who walk along his paths." "You are my mighty protector" or "You are the lifter of my head." I could go on for days to support the idea that God values us more than we can comprehend.
However, if that is all I know then my prayers will reflect only that knowledge. Listen to yourself when you pray. Do you prayers consist of only petitions? I have noticed this in my own prayers lately. I sound like a spoiled child. During the month of June, I read and meditate on the book of Psalms. It is impossible to read the Psalms and not bow lower and lower and want to close my mouth and simply sit in awe of God's majesty. My prayers begin to change. I spend most of the time talking about how mighty and matchless and limitless God is.
Imagine it like this. If you have a great relationship with your earthly father this will be easier to imagine. Picture yourself talking with your dad and making a request known to him. If it is a something that he can easily afford and will not harm you, you feel confident in asking. I am going to twist it a little here. What if you have a lot of siblings and your dad is very wealthy? There will be a temptation to get jealous of what the other siblings receive. You will want everything to be totally fair and you may end up whining if they are not fair to each sibling. It would be easy to be very self-centered and ask for many things that you don't really need just because you know your dad can afford it and your sibling received the same things.
That is the part I am struggling with right now. When I look around at what my friends have, it is easy to become a little perturbed at God because I think I need the same thing that they have received. After all, I am valued. I am God's favorite, aren't I? I am not merely talking about material things. If one of your friends has what you perceive as a great marriage or an enviable dating relationship, then you are mad at God because he has not given you the same thing. If another friend has been given recognition or talents that are applauded and you think that you have been given lesser gifts, you may be a little jealous.When you have a friend who son is valedictorian and your child is in resource math, you may wonder why they have been more in God's favor. If your family is struck with cancer, you can't help but question God and wonder why you are not being blessed with good health. These are heart-wrenching questions. And the temptation may be to focus more on my attributes and how I am "worthy" rather than simply focus more on God's attributes and how he is worthy.
Back to my prayers...I think that I need to spend much of my time praising God for his many attributes that simply boggle my mind. I need to meditate on the "relationship" with my heavenly father rather than the "resources" that my father can provide. Go back to the human relationship I mentioned earlier. If my sons came over and just wanted to be with us, ask for wisdom, laugh with us, let us bless them with every good thing we can...we would have a healthier relationship than if they saw us as a Santa Claus, giver of wishes. Don't miss the obvious here. Yes, we are valued by God more than we could comprehend, more than any earthly parent could ever value a child. But the focus has to be on God and not us. Be honest with yourself. You are self-centered! In my 8th grade math class, my name is said one hundred times an hour. My students want my attention right then and now when they need help, when they have a question and they do not want to wait on me to finish helping another student. I often say in frustration, "Do I look like I am sitting at my desk, drink a cup of cappuccino? Let me finish helping this student."
Listen to your prayers. Do they sound like that? Do you sound like a selfish child who gets right to the point? "I want this because they have this!" When I spend time praising God and mentioning all the things I love about him...I almost forget to ask him for anything. And when I do ask him, I feel confident that I am asking a father who can do anything he chooses, who can afford anything I ask for, who can always give me way more than I ask for. It is a subtle change but a necessary change so that we can enjoy the relationship God wants to have with his precious child.
Cliff-hanger...I want to talk about sex. Thought that would get your attention. Later, gator!
No comments:
Post a Comment