Is God Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?

 I had an interesting conversation with my Brother Carey at Carry Me Home blog.  He posed a question: Why is it that most people who have a strong desire to accomplish something, such as weight loss, or overcome a drug addiction will most likely fail at it?  He concluded that even though they have the desire, and put in the work they believe is necessary, the odds are against them because they may not have the right information or they may even have misinformation. Brother Carey states that in addition, most fail because they have no true vision of what it would take to accomplish what they desire.  He concludes that because of these factors, their failure is truly not their own fault.  I agreed with him.

I would like to take this question and give it a Christian spin, a God theme. 

Why is it that many people who profess that they are Christians fail at developing a true relationship with Jesus, when they say they have a desire to know Him?  Is it bad teaching and preaching that stop us?  Is it the bad things that happen in our lives that stop us?  Do our issues stop us?  Why is it that some of us backslide and fall away from our faith?

We know that there are many heretics out there, and false prophets and carnal minded people in the hierarchy of the church.  I just read a post at my sister Ann’s blog, “The Old Black Church”, where she tells of a church which locked its members out of the sanctuary this past Resurrection Sunday, over issues of money.  My Brother at Reggie’s Rantings blog just posted about the subject of child molestation in the Catholic church.  All of this really looks very bad. We can say that these kinds of reports about the church is the reason that people fall away or never come to Christ to begin with.

But I wonder if all of these reasons are really the reason that many Christians don’t have a true relationship with the Lord? A deep relationship with Him.  I wonder if it’s not something other than these convenient reasons, why some don’t develop their relationship with the Lord?   I believe we can overcome any reason that would block us from developing a relationship with the Lord, if we want to bad enough.  If we want a true, satisfying and personal relationship with the Lord bad enough, Proverbs 3:5-8 tells us:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;

do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek his will in all you do,

and he will show you which path to take.

Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.

Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Then you will have healing for your body

and strength for your bones. 

I believe it all boils down to trusting God.  Despite all the madness that is out there.  There are so many despicable things going on both inside and outside of the church.  Many people use the church as a cloak for their own ungodly behavior.  But should we allow the wicked to influence us and keep us away from God?  If we do allow all that’s going on to block us from God, then isn’t it because we have concluded that God has got things wrong?  Isn’t it because we have decided that we know more than God, because we can see wickedness that God apparently isn’t able to see?  And isn’t it because we have decided that God is not as smart as we?  And if we are honest, then we have to admit that we must be trusting our own understanding and depending on our own wisdom!  We can so easily be deceived in this manner. But again, God tells us in the above scriptures what to do.  Unlike the initial above scenario,  we DO have the right information! Our Bible is the right information and revelation for the Christian to live SUCCESSFULLY, even in this fallen world!  Amen

First published at wrestlegod.blogspot.com  on 4-5-10

Are Marriage Relationships to be Built?

There is a lot of talk these days about marriage and how difficult it can be. Everywhere you turn, someone is talking about how many marriages are failing. How divorce is soaring, even in the “church”. Some folk even believe that the marriage covenant isn’t necessary in this day and age. Many feel that the marriage license, the papers,  is where the problem lies.

Those of us who believe in the sanctity of marriage are perplexed about all this. We don’t understand why our marriages are failing, and we are trying to figure out what’s going on! Some pastors are preaching that it’s because we dont “interview” our prospective mates! We don’t know what we’re getting! We don’t find out their views on money, children, work, business, family, etc. Some pastors are saying that we are letting carnality lead us in choosing our mates–we are looking at whether they look good, have money or prestige. Some experts are saying that those we are choosing are not emotionally whole–we’re not finding out if the prospect has any issues–like anger, greediness, selfishness, hatred, etc. The implication is that we should eliminate these types from our pool of choices.

I have trouble with this. Mainly because I fit into many of these categories! Don’t we all have some issue or another? Is a marriage relationship something that should be perfect and complete from day one? Isn’t a relationship built over time? As a married woman, I know that the marriage relationship is something that must be developed. It takes a lot of emotional work and prayer to make it work.

If we accept what the “experts” tell us are the proper criteria, then no one would qualify for marriage! 

Let me propose something. As Christians we already have the solution to build a great marriage with the mate of our dreams. 

First, God is our foundation on which to build a good, satisfying marriage. That means that at the start of that marriage, there’s nothing much there. The foundation must  be set in place. Then if we trust in the Lord and follow His precepts, we will be victorious in all things. It’s God who guides us in everything to develop our relationship with our mate. When we as weak humans run into disagreements, we look to what the Word says, we follow it, and things come back together. When we have doubts about each other, we take our burdens to the Lord in prayer and find out what the Word says. When we are angry at each other, we take our troubles to God and do what He says concerning anger. We forgive each other. If we follow Christ in all our ways, we will practice love and forgiveness in all our ways to the best of our ability. God will bless our efforts, and we will see victory in our marriages, despite our issues, weaknesses, and problems. It’s not wise to think that we should be compatible in everything.

 We are individuals and that means we see things differently one from the other. We ought not to expect to agree on everything. We ought to expect that at times we won’t be happy with each other. That’s not a reason to fall apart but to do what God says and forgive. In going through the issues of marriage, our relationship grows. We develop patience and love and appreciation for each other. The “experts” say we won’t have to go through too many trials, if we choose correctly. God says that we are victorious in Him in all our ways, despite problems. 

I’m going to continue to go God’s way so my marriage will continue to blessed!  Amen.

sat’day riddymz #20