Do You Expect Too Much From God?
Disclaimer: I believe God wants to and does help people out of their predicaments and problems in profound and gracious ways.
Admittedly, the title of this post is a bit contrary to a previous post of mine and a general conviction I have about 1) God being able to provide victory in all things and 2) God giving us way more than we deserve.
However, I do believe that there are two juxtaposed approaches that people take when asking things from God, both of which are extremes of the balanced approach we should have when making our requests known to God.
The first, and not the topic of this post, is when people don’t think they deserve help from God, or they don’t think that God actually wants to help them. That is erroneous.
The second, and the issue I raise in this post, is that many people want God to ‘fix’ problems that they are totally capable of fixing themselves.
Let me provide three very brief (and non-comprehensive) examples just to get the mind going…
1) A sex addict pleads to God to free him from his bondage but he refuses to cut the cable Internet, streaming pornography into his home. He is fully capable of eliminating a big piece of the problem. If he does his part, God can then move to redeem and restore his soul.
2) A smoker wants to have God take away his desire to smoke, but then hangs out with all his friends who smoke and can’t seem to figure out why God won’t take away his urges to have a cigarette.
3) A lethargic person complains of chronic back and joint pain, wondering why God hasn’t healed him of his mysterious health problems. That same person refuses to diet and exercise, known cures of many health issues.
The point here is not that God is not willing and able to help us. Indeed, God often transcends our own weaknesses and helps us despite our refusal to help ourselves.
But there are many things that we ask God to help us with that we are fully capable of doing ourselves. In fact, God often desires that we do them ourselves.
Furthermore, there are many things that God needs our help with and we wonder why He isn’t doing more. We wonder why God doesn’t solve world hunger or rescue children from slavery. I imagine that God is probably thinking the same of us asking, “Why don’t they do the things I need them to do like feed the hungry and rescue the slaves?”
God has all the power, ability, and willingness to rescue us, but we have a part to play and we mustn’t forget our responsibility for ourselves.
Do you agree with this idea?
If so, why do you think people presume to ask the wrong things of God?
If not, can you offer a better suggestion to those wondering why God isn’t helping them when an obvious solution exists?
