Let's be honest for a moment. Most people in America worship a genie!
What???
That’s right, I said it!
Most people in America worship a genie!
Kaynenn, What on earth are you talking about?
Most people want an all-powerful being that they can control. One who is available…
to comfort when we want to be comforted, to provide when we want provision,
to bless when we want favor, to protect in times of trouble
All of these things are great! And a genie can provide all of them. But genies only exist in Aladdin.
In the world we live in there is only one being who can provide these things (and more).
God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)
What most Americans need to do is come to grips with the fact that God is in charge, not us. Whether we like it or not, God calls the shots.
Some atheists try to pull out the M.A.S. card on Christians.
If God is real, why does He allow evil?
Why did He let my auntie die the way she did?
Why does He allow volcanoes and earthquakes?
God wouldn’t allow that to happen! He must be a fabrication!
No my friend, God is real. Your perception of Him is a fabrication.
It’s illogical to claim God doesn’t exist based on what we perceive to be a lack of action during “Must Act Situations.” The government doesn’t do what we want it to do; yet no one is holding up signs that say it’s not real.
What they perceive to be God is really a genie.
Christians do the same thing.
We wrestle with passages that say God will give is what we ask for and wonder why we don’t have it (1 John 5:15, Mark 11:24, Luke 11:9-10).
It may be because you believe that every word of scripture is true (And it is).
Or you may have a desire to worship a genie instead of God.
All of the verses in the Bible that speak of us getting what we want from God are true. But they are true within the context of the whole Bible.
So what does the Bible say about God, Us and our relationship?
God is Sovereign and we are not.
Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”
The earth and all that is within it is His and not ours.
Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein…”
God gives “things” to people as He wills.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 “4 Now there are varieties of gifts…but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone…11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”
He gives His children what they need because they often don’t know what is best for themselves.
Matthew 7:11 “7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
The things we ask for are only given to us if they are within His will to give it.
1 John 5:14-15 “14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
One cannot demand what is freely given.
God does give us what we ask for. He also gives us things we didn’t ask for (Like Life, Rain, Sunshine, Joy, Family, etc…).
We have no dealing in negotiating with God over the things we get from Him. All we can do is ask. Just as a child can demand things from their parent, the parents’ prerogative stands.
A responsible parent will give the necessities to their child, and even some added blessing on top of that at their discretion.
But responsible parents wont give things to their child if it could have disastrous affects, no matter how much faith they have in their parent or how much they desire it.
If they want m&m’s, bacon and kool-aid for dinner, do you give it to them?
What is it about mankind that hates the idea of not being in control?
Sin
Reflect on these questions and pray that God would give you a submissive (not rebellious) heart toward Him.
Am I mad at God when I receive a “no” when I think I deserve a yes?
Am I asking God “what’s the meaning of this?” or "what’s the meaning in this?”
Do you really believe that God has your best interest in mind?
Why do you want the thing you are asking for?
Have you been in a consistent pattern of aligning your will with His through faithful prayer and Bible study?
Stay tuned for a brief look at why God allows evil to occur (Theodicy - A defense of God’s righteousness in the face of evil)