Skip to main content

“Not only is life unfair, but in this case, God is unfair.”

A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Hope in the Dark: Believing God Is Good When Life Is Not (p. 52). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

What?  God is sometimes unfair?

Craig says, “To be clear, he’s never unfair according to his standards, but he’s certainly unfair according to ours. And that’s good news for us. Because if he were fair (according to our understanding), then none of us would stand a chance. We are all guilty of sin. We’re inherently selfish, both in small, subtle ways and in bold, dramatic ways. When we commit adultery or murder in our hearts, to God we’re just as guilty as those who are exposed and convicted of the same acts. At least, that’s what Jesus said.

“If we got what we deserve, then we would be stuck with ourselves, with no hope of change, no hope of forgiveness, no hope of eternal life in heaven. Just the torment of regret, the terrible loneliness of knowing that we got what we thought we wanted—to refuse God’s grace and be left alone. We would lose our souls to our own selfish pursuits.”

Craig goes on, “But, thank God, that’s not who we are. We are not animals but people, created with immortal souls, loved by God so much that he never gives up on us. Even when we get angry and hurt and rage at him. Even when we doubt from him.”

Now I like that kind of being unfair, don’t you?

He later says, “What if honestly acknowledging your doubts… is your first step toward building a deeper faith? What if embracing your secret questions opens the door for a maturing knowledge of God’s character?

“What if drawing closer to God, developing genuine intimacy with him, requires you to bear something that feels unbearable? To hear him through an ominous utterance, to trust him in the moment of doom, to embrace his strength when you’re weak with a burden? What if it takes real pain to experience deep and abiding hope?”

He is so different than anyone else, isn’t he?  When we are honest with some they run away.  They don’t want to get that involved.  But not God.  So, why not open up to him today, just trust him in your moment of doom, embrace his strength, open up to him about your real pain and then experience his deep and abiding hope?  Would you do that?

Yes, yes!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Lie 2: The more you worry about it, the better your odds of avoiding it."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book,   Winning the War on Worry    (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Here is another lie that the Enemy uses with us. And Louie says, "This is a tricky lie. Yes, we often have cause for concern and preparation. But the Enemy wants you to believe that if you worry or fret over a certain outcome long enough, you can keep something bad from happening." But this is so important to realize. He says, "The reality is worrying has never once prevented something negative from happening. Planning might. Prayer has. But worry never will." He continues, "The Enemy tells you that by worrying about a situation (or every situation) you can make your tomorrow better. Really, worry just robs you of today. Jesus implored us: 'I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body mor...
Post a Comment
Read more

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

"To put it simply, worry isn’t just a bad habit."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book,   Winning the War on Worry    (p. 1). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Ok, that is interesting. Louie says, "Worry is an Enemy tactic—a strategy built on lies that are designed to rob you of peace and tear your mind to pieces. "That’s why it’s crucial that you are able to spot the lies worry tells." He goes on, "Not long ago while on safari in South Africa, Shelley and I were really wanting to see a leopard in the wild. Early and late on our game drives our eyes were set on every tree limb, bush, grassy hill, and river path in hopes of finding one of several leopards that were known to frequent this particular area. But here’s the thing: leopards aren’t bright orange with tall, sparkly antennae on their backs. They are designed to blend into the surroundings, like the bark of a baobab tree where they might be lounging on one of its mighty branches. "In the same way, ...
Post a Comment
Read more