Wednesday 18 February 2009

Epiphany

Not as the world gives, I give to you... this is one of God's promises to those of this earth.  To be honest, there are times when I struggle with that... when the world's promises seem so good. More specifically, worldly promises that thread truth though them, enough to make me forget that they're not quite God's.  The world's promises are intriguing; they don't live in the land of black and white, as they are too artfully crafted to exist without shades to deepen them.  And - adding to their complexity - they are not completely wrong.
Another one of God's promises is that we will reap what we sow.  It is stated strongly in the Bible, and emphasizes that God will not be mocked.  Our behaviours will catch up with us, both the seen and the unseen.  We won't get away with anything.  On the flip side, the Bible also alludes to blessing those who do good.  So doesn't it just make sense then that how we live wills into our lives good and evil, joy and pain?  God gave man freewill, and from that freewill we make choices.  Doesn't it go without saying that those choices lure into our lives blessings or curses?  
I've had conversations lately with all sorts of people, all sorts of backgrounds, all sorts of beliefs, and spanning these beliefs is a similar idea: whatever you give to the world is what you will get back.  It's packaged with a variety of words, has different spiritual views and philosophies, but essentially the same.  Isn't that what I believe?  Didn't those other faiths and good people borrow that concept from the Bible?
I wanted to accept that logic easily, but I was torn.  Wasn't this philosophy essentially of reaping what you sow?  So why wasn't it sitting right in the deepest part of me?  I went to ask God about it... and His answer was a revelation.  He brought me back to the basics of who He is and what He's doing in people's lives.  I must confess the context for our conversation was me complaining to God that I feel like I sow more than I reap.
What He said to me was: "I'm not trying to make it up to you."  
Those words blossomed an epiphany.  He is not karma-Jesus. 
There is a freedom that comes in understanding that God's blessings aren't dependent on me. Maybe, if I dig deeper, I will find that "blessing" doesn't have the same definition in His dictionary as it does in mine.  I think "fun, easy, effortless"; like people being nice to me, finding money on the sidewalk, and completely perfect health.  It's not that those things aren't good... but I believe God thinks deeper; more like "growth, perseverance, courage".  So He creates opportunities to live well through adversity, be vulnerable, and learn to forgive. Circumstances we would "will" into our lives cannot bear such fruit.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting that God doesn't reward faithfulness; I'm just saying He doesn't owe us what we want.  It is important to remember that the Bible tells us that He loves us... has a future and a hope for us, full of good and not evil.  The Bible says that all of our needs are met in Him... and even that He delights in giving us good things.  But be cautious believing the image the world wishes was Him - that He is rushing about heaven, trying to orchestrate more good events than are bad.  He is not weighing the nice acts I've done and making sure the equivalent is returned to me in nice things back.  Karma-Jesus doesn't exist; Savior, redeemer, hope-future-plan-for-you Jesus does.  Not as the world gives He gives to you.    

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Brought back to truth again. Thanks for sharing these thoughts with us. I too am learning what it means to live with 'unfulfilled desires' and to live well with them. Indeed, not as the world gives He gives to us... thank you God.