Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Giving Up On God

by Donna L. Watkins

We are in what the Bible prophecies call the "end times" and in these last days evil will increase greatly and men will be drawn away from the One True Living God. Even those who might have thought of themselves as Rock-solid Christians. I ask myself, how could that happen?

© 2010 Donna L. Watkins - Daffodil - Glencairn Garden, Rock Hill, SC

One thing that makes it look very easy in today's times is that statistics and polls show that there isn't much of a defining line between Christian and non-Christians. Even vows made before God in marriage are discarded because of incompatibility. "Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate" (Mark 10:9).

We separate because we don't trust each other and we don't trust that God can mend the hurts, wounds, and pain. Most of the pain comes as a result of our childhoods. Things we've never dealt with so God could heal them. We enter marriage thinking our spouse is going to make it all right ... and they enter marriage with the same agenda.

Sadly, second marriages have a higher divorce rate than first marriages. So, the reasons why you leave one marriage carries into the next, so now there is not only your childhood issues that need to be dealt with, but the issues of the first marriage. Higher expectations are placed on second marriage spouses.

It's not just in marriage that we give up on what God can do. We've been bombarded with self-help books, programs and mantras. Again, we rely on ourselves to fix ourselves. How can wounded flesh repair itself? We have wounds that have been buried so deep we don't consciously know about them any more. God is always there for us ... but we don't take the time to dig in and dig deep. The devil has convinced us with fear that it's better to things be buried, swept under the rug, bygones be bygones. The stuff may be buried, but there's an aroma of stench that permeates our lives and we never seem to be able to grab hold of true peace and joy because of it.

It's not the current culture .. it's the flesh. We bend to the flesh, rather than live by the Spirit. Israel did the same thing. They were brought out of bondage and slavery (we were also when we accepted Christ as Lord and Savior). They went out with great wealth and glory and freedom. How marvelous that day must have been when they gathered up all the gold and gifts from the Egyptians! What a miracle! These people who had been slaves for centuries are now being showered with wealth and given true freedom.

Then came the Red Sea. After seeing all the miracles that God performed before Pharaoh, did they stand in wonder and faith at how God was going to get them across? No, fear was their immediate reaction and with fear there can be no faith. Their response was, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? .... For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness" (Ex. 14).

What about us? How much tolerance do we have for the Red Seas on our lives? Do we grumble or stand strong in faith? Faith says we love our God and trust Him to take care of us. The more self-reliant we get, the less we turn to God. We have a multitude of ways to figure things out and can live a lifetime trying to make things right in our own strength. Like any Father, God wants to help us. He wants to hold us during our times of trail ... and times of trial are necessary for growth in our lives.

Don't give up on God. Take more time to learn more of Him and His Word and that time will be multiplied to you! Your reasoning mind says you don't have time, but your Spirit is longing for more of the One True Living God. He's the only salvation and hope to make everything okay.

God hasn't given up on you. Return with a zeal to lean in, press in, come apart from the cares of this world, and build that faith relationship that will serve you all the days of your life with hope, joy, peace and power. Choose you this day: Life or Death ... Blessings or Curses. What ground are we sowing into?

Related Article:  
Remembering The Miracles

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© 2010 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission from TheNatureInUs.com. The link to use is: www.TheNatureInUs.com.

2 comments:

April Lorier said...

What a comprehensive article, Donna! The take-away: How can wounded flesh heal itself? What a question!

sharingsunshine said...

We too often see God as a little god. Just seeing His Creation and pondering it in detail alone shows us what a BIG God He is ... and it wasn't just a week's project and then off to better things. He not only made it but He made it for Himself, so it shows what a loving and creative God He is.

Col 1:16 "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible ... all things have been created by Him and for Him."

It's all for us to enjoy together WITH Him! What a personal God He desires to be in our lives!

Love and Hugs to you April!
Donna

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