The Certainty of God

The reason we can be totally honest with God is because He doesn't change. He always loves and welcomes us. The big problem isn’t His uncertainty. It’s our mistaken belief that He isn't certain or that we can't depend on Him. There is something that feels like a paradox here. The best way to begin learning about His certainty is to admit to Him that we don't feel He is certain, safe, or maybe even good! The recovering alcoholics got it right when they proposed to other alcoholics that they turn their will and their lives over the care of God as they understood Him. It isn't that God is relative or uncertain--the problem is that our view of Him is relative or uncertain.

God’s so loving, so caring, so certain, and so safe, that we can go to Him and start off by telling Him we don't believe any of it in the first place. In fact, it may be that He wants you to confront Him - that He wants your anger at His apparent lack of deliverance. This might be the sort of passionate prayer He so longs for. Your prayers of anger may be the ones of deepest faith and trust you've ever embarked upon. He can then take that anger and turn you into something quite amazing.

The certainty of God is that He’ll start with you, wherever you’re starting at. You don't have to get rid of your anger or sadness or depression first. That's probably where He wants to start.

Honesty and Spiritual Growth

Have you ever tried being honest?  Honest with God.  Honest with yourself.  Honest with those around you?  Honesty isn't the end of spiritual growth, rather a foundational beginning.  Being honest with God (and a few trusted others) can be quite freeing, because once we become truly honest with God, He actually has something He can work with.  Try saying something really honest to God in a way you've never done before.  Something you aren't supposed to think or believe.  See what happens.  If He strikes you dead, come see me about it.  For a good read, see a book called "True Faced" with the subtitle "Trusting God and Others with Who You Really Are." Amazon.com.  For related scripture, read Job or the Psalms, or see 1st John 1:5-10.  It is the foundation for the rest of that epistle.  

Singing Us to Sleep

When overseas in 2004, my co-workers and I became good friends with a married couple. We had just left a war-torn country, moved to a neighboring country, and stayed with these friends for three weeks. We were struggling with lots of emotional turmoil and trying to sort out our next steps. During those three weeks, I slept on the couch in their living room. I remember very clearly that one evening, my friend (the husband) played his guitar and sang me to sleep. I'm serious. He sang me to sleep with some sort of soothing melody. When I think back to that evening, it gives me a good visual image of the tenderness of God. Jesus lamented one time, "Oh, Jerusalem... how often I have longed to gather your children together... as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings." God wants us to know that we are safe and sound, under the protection of His wings. If we let Him, He has no greater desire than to sing us to sleep.