Genuine Reliance Upon Almighty God: "What Would You Have Me to Do?" - Part Two

Genuine Reliance Upon Almighty God:

“What Would You Have Me to Do?” – Part Two

You may feel legitimately that God is playing a cruel joke upon you.  Perpetual problems create this feeling particularly when you have not done anything wrong.  As someone who strives to honor the Lord in daily living and treat your neighbor with compassion, you ponder incongruity of blessings and burdens within your circumstances.  Though you appreciate the spiritual maxim that the rain falls on the just and unjust alike, you want to know why God allows it to pour on your fields.  Someone with your skills and abilities deserves a more fruitful and successful life.  How can God equip you with myriad talents and fail to provide opportunities to actualize them?  Why did He even give them to you?  Is He playing a cruel joke on you?

Cynicism undoubtedly results as these feelings persist.  You believe you are living a nightmare from which you hope an angel loved one will wake you.  You descend more deeply into an existential death.  You conclude your life is an utter waste.  You cease to dream anymore.  You lose the joy of your salvation.  For what would you praise God as your life seems to spiral out of control?  Feeling stuck helplessly in life’s quicksand, you courageously and faithfully ask Almighty God, “Is there more?”  What did God have in mind when He put His eternal spirit in you and sent you earthward?  However difficult these questions of faith are, they encourage and empower you to seek the will of Almighty God. 

As your Infinite Supply, Intelligence and Defense, God mysteriously transforms these circumstances into catalysts of change and growth.  Your financial challenges become a means of practicing good stewardship.  In future days of bounty, you will maximize your blessings.  As you recall your time of lean harvests, you will be a blessing to others who are in need.  Termination from a job forces you to finally pursue your heartfelt dreams.  The comfort and convenience of receiving a regular paycheck every two weeks hardly motivates anyone to re-evaluate his finances or priorities.  The love of spouses, family members and close friends becomes more meaningful during difficult times.  The self delusion of being in control of our lives rarely leads to a genuine reliance upon Almighty God.  Multiple adversities and challenges in a season of life tempts us to wallow in negative thoughts.  When mental balance returns, we are in an ideal place to ask God for His guidance.

There are several noteworthy stories in which biblical characters feel God abandons them.  Job, after enduring unimaginable grief, asks Almighty God, “Do you have eyes of flesh?  Do you see as a mortal sees?”  (Job 10:4)  His bewilderment forces Job to confront God.  Is it reliably the case that God is good all the time?  Job’s trepidation and questions about God’s motives seem reasonable as Job did not commit any offenses or lapse into apostasy.  Further, Jonah dismisses God’s will as misguided when he flees to Tarshish instead of obeying divine directive to travel to Nineveh and preach a message of repentance.  Jonah concludes the Ninevehites do not deserve God’s grace.  He more especially resolves that it is a waste of his, Jonah’s, time.  Jonah determines that it is beneath him to follow God’s orders; he expresses disdain for the people of Nineveh.  Jonah eventually adheres to God’s will but afterwards regrets doing so.  As Jonah sulks underneath a tree, he believes God abandons him to a worthless and fruitless vocation as a prophet.  Third, in the well-known biblical passage relating to tithing, Malachi 3:8-18, the prophet chastises his listeners for questioning whether it pays to serve God.  They distract themselves as they observe the bountiful blessings of persons who do not subscribe to their religious beliefs and commitments.  What is in it for them?  Essentially, they feel abandoned to randomness of daily living.  What is the purpose of surrendering tithes and offerings as a devotion to a God who fails to bless them?  Finally, the Psalter asks some very heartrending questions about God’s character and faithfulness in Psalm 77.  “Has His unfailing love vanished forever?”  “Will He never show His favor again?”  “Has His promise failed for all time?”  These inquiries reflect the Psalter’s hopelessness and helplessness as he doggedly strives to cling to his faith in Almighty God.  The cumulative question of Job, Jonah, Malachi and the Psalter, “How does a person genuinely rely upon God when he feels abandoned by God,” mirrors heartfelt questions of countless contemporary disciples.

Nevertheless, when disciples ask that question they are ideally situated emotionally, experientially and existentially to rely genuinely upon Almighty God.  The confluence of circumstances in their lives coerces the question.  Certain humility befalls disciples who find themselves in this predicament.  As these disciples recognize their extreme limitations, they humbly ask God, “What would You have me to do?”