So one of the things I’ve been thinking about a lot is God’s power and finding kind of the balance between the name it and claim it crowd who tell you if God doesn’t do what you ask him to do it’s because you don’t have enough faith, and the more conservative crowd who when they don’t get what they pray for say well it must not have been God’s will. Now I believe in God and his power to heal and restore lives, and I’ve known people who desperately needed to have God’s power released in their lives. And sometimes I’ve seen God come through and both overt and subtle miracles happen, but sometimes I’ve watched people I deeply cared about struggle and eventually give in to defeat. So I really want to know what is going to release the power of God into people’s lives. Unfortunately I don’t have it all figured out yet (and I probably never will), so if you are looking for answers you will be disappointed, but I have come across some unexpected and interesting thoughts in the process that I thought I’d share.
I recently read two books that really got me thinking: Pure, White, and Deadly by John Yudkin and Deceptive Diagnosis: When Sin is called Sickness by Dr. David Tyler and Dr. Kurt Grady. The first is a book about the possible dangerous effects of sugar published in 1972 which was met with a strong negative reaction from sugar producers and pretty much suppressed. The second is about the effect of psychology on the church how instead of recognizing sinful behavior as something that needs to be repented of, now most churches treat many sinful behaviors as symptoms of a disorder that can’t be cured. So we see ourselves as perpetually defeated and powerless to change. The common thread both of these books have is the idea of untrue information being widely accepted and the consequences of living like the falsehood is true. These books have got me thinking in a new light about some verses in Bible like:
Hosea 4:6- My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. ... Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Romans 1:18- For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
(Since I often function as the context police I will say here that Hosea is announcing God’s judgement on the nation of Israel (they will soon be destroyed by the Assyirans) because of their idolatry and rampant sin. And the truth suppressed in Romans 1 is later stated to be the knowledge of God and his qualities that are revealed in the created order).
So the questions that I’m asking now are “Are there habits I have or that society as a whole has that are destructive even though I’ve been taught otherwise?” “ Are there lies I’m believing that are keeping me from what God wants to give me, or that keep me from being an effective help to my friends?” “Should we expect God to remove the consequences of believing lies without repenting of believing the lies?” “Are we asking God to do things that would go against his own created order because we’ve changed things and prefer our changes to his order?” “Are we sometimes asking God to do the things he’s commanded us to do and then wondering why he doesn’t answer our prayers?” Are we praying when we should be acting? Are we acting on human wisdom and ideas when we should be praying for God’s wisdom and ideas?
And this brings me back to the idea of signs, wonders, miracles, and God’s power. Are they supposed to be normal, common, everyday occurrences? Or are they more of a special event type of thing? If so what are the conditions for that event to happen? Like I said, I don’t have the answers yet, but I do find myself becoming more concerned and focused on believing his truth and doing my part to be wise and obedient and dilligent to pursue the knowledge of God, rather than being content to just ask God to do everything for me.
Go ahead, share a thought or a testimony of being freed from lies you used to believe. I dare you.