Another issue arising from the "law of linearity" is what can we really expect from God.
My little girl Anna Beth is worried that something bad will happen to her while she sleeps. She's afraid of the darkness. I wish I could tell her that "nothing bad will ever happen, I promise" or "Daddy will always be there to protect you." She comes back with "what if you can't protect me, Daddy?"
I don't know what to say. I try to tell her to pray when she's scared, that Daddy and Mommy would do everything in their power to protect her, but what can I say for God? Can I say that his angels are watching over her and won't let her see evil? Watching the news changes that notion quickly. Children her age are too often brutalized in our day.
What can I expect from God for my daughter? For my kids, my wife, myself? Frankly, I find God too unpredictable and unreliable at times.
3 comments:
To answer your subject line (although I'm not sure if this matters to you), we should expect nothing, for the living God has given us life and we deserve to have that taken away if God sees it fit.
I see that in Job's life, my life, and many other lives, that God's glory is not limited to a finite amount of suffering.
Scott, you're a great brother.
I will say amen to that.
If we should expect nothing, brother, why pray? I don't think the answer is a detached stoicism bordering on fatalism (though I would not charge you with that, Darren, I'm just thinking out loud).
It's very apparent that scripture shows us that we are to expect eternal happiness if we follow its commands, and so therefore expecting nothing would mock God and His promise. I attempted my last post to be interpreted that we should expect to have everlasting life, but in this earthy life, we must suffer for the kingdom and pray that God would build us up so that we can stand up under all temptation and sin and be joyous always.
I think the meaning of prayer is to call out to an all sovereign God and give praise to Him, not to receive something in return. It would seem selfish to pray to God in hopes of blessings in return when He is the one who should receive praise. But at the same time, altruism is something I wish to avoid, for we receive joy in God fully when we give of ourselves and expect nothing but happiness in return.
I don't maintain the attitude that since God is completely sovereign, that my existence is inevitable; I rather think that I am the author of my sin and that my obedience and perseverance is determined up to me, while at the same time in concordance with God's will.
I'm thinking out loud too.
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