What are we to do when the God of the Bible, the promises Jesus made in the New Testament and our faith in Christ are faced with the cold hard experiences that seem to prove otherwise?
“Let God be true and every man a liar.”
Recently I’ve been struggling with some pretty serious spiritual questions. “Is God true to His Word?” and “Why haven’t I seen God move when I pray – as He promises numerous times to do in the Bible?”
Ultimately the questions boil down to “Is God a Liar?, Have we misunderstood Him? or What are we doing wrong?”
Not to get into many of my late night monologues toward God (with occasional revelations and leadings making them for the briefest moments dialogues), but it seems the answer is either that God is a liar, we’ve misunderstood His Word, or we’re doing something wrong. For the reality of life is that the promises made in the Bible are not being fulfilled.
This past month I attended the memorial service for a pastor at my church. It was the most beautiful memorial service I’ve been to… and that is saying something because I’ve been to a lot of these memorial services in my lifetime. Memorial services for believers in Christ that were struck down by cancer.
It seems that greater is the cancer that is in your cells then the Lord that is in your heart.
I can just make out the taunting of the giant across the Valley of Elah. “Come here and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.” And cancer delivers on its promise with frequent regularity.
It seems at times that the god of this world is better at keeping his promises then the God of the Heavens.
So God and I have been having a pretty serious dialogue these past few years and this dialog has intensified over the past four months as my church has rallied around this pastor … apparently to no avail.
“Let God be true and every man a liar.”
Option A (God is a Liar) isn’t something I can seriously consider for long. I have been too blessed in my life, I’ve seen His hand too many times in my life to chalk it up to chance and frankly I’ve come too far, gone through too much to turn back now.
Option B (We misunderstood His promises) is much more tempting. What if the Bible is only figurative? Or if the healing and miracles He promised were for a later day (Heaven) or only for the first few days and have passed (Early Church)? Or what if these passages were added later on, or taking this one step further, the whole Bible has become corrupted?
As with Option A, I have come too far to settle on the East of the Jordan. Too many Christians have had similar battles between belief and experiences and have sided with experience and modified their beliefs to match. Because of this compromise the church of Jesus Christ has lost its power, effectiveness and uniqueness. We’ve gone from a dynamic movement of God that shook the whole earth to being one of a dozen well developed dead mythologies that don’t even shake broken pews.
I know I’m stubborn: I am praying / hoping / pleading that my stubbornness on this is both honoring to God and that I will not be put to shame (Psalm 25).
If God is a liar then I’m screwed. Actually, we all are. But I believe … I KNOW that God is true and every man is a liar (that includes our experiences).
If we’ve misunderstood His promises, or the Bible has been corrupted (as other religions claim) then how do we know our current understandings aren’t also misunderstandings. If the Bible is muddy tripe then that goes back to the Option A because God promised to protect and look after His Word to perform it. So if its been corrupted God is either a liar or impotent or both.
So if we conclude that God is to be trusted, that His Word is true and a straightforward reading reliable, then it follows that the failure falls on us. Option C: We’re doing something wrong.
And this is my vow; I will seek, knock, ask and, Lord willing, discover what we’ve lost and what we’re doing wrong. The stakes are too high to do anything but. “Here I stand. I can do no other.” God once told me to stop ministering to Muslims until I could call down fire from heaven like Elijah did. The interesting thing about these words was “until.” Like Edison with his light bulbs, there is an answer out there that is waiting to be illuminated. We’ve lost the power; I commit my life to rediscovering, utilizing and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with signs and wonders following.
This posting of my two theses is not the beginning of the journey. I’ve been on this journey since childhood. The answers God reveals to me will be uncomfortable at times, convicting and will change the way I live. And maybe this is why so many have opted for Options A & B. Option C puts the responsibilities for fighting the giants polluting our world squarely on our shoulders. Option A allows us to blame God, while Option B allows us to live a comfortable life of ignorance and apathy (or do we know or even care?). Option C requires action, faith and discipline.
As for me and my house I’m currently polishing my six smooth stones and am practicing the lines that will haunt many a demons’ nightmares “You come against me with cancer, tumors, growths and metastasis, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head and deliver those you hold captive. Today I will give the carcasses of you demonic hordes to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those who witnesses your demise and the miraculous deliverance of your captives will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you (including your brothers autism, epilepsy, heart disease, STDs, and genetic disorders) into our hands.”
As is clear I’m not ready yet; that’s a lot to memorize. But I’m on my way. I’ve set my course. Here I stand. I can do no other. So help me God.
The answer? As any teacher will tell you, if in doubt go with Option C.
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