Even if you don't (Pt.2)

(Part 2 )

“The enemy boasted, ‘I will chase them and catch up with them. I will plunder them

and consume them. I will flash my sword; my powerful hand will destroy them.’ But         you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. “Who is like you among the gods, O Lord—glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders? You raised your right hand, and the earth swallowed our enemies.”-Exodus 15:9-12

The Israelites, early on, worshipped God for what He could do. They would praise Him for performing great wonders, however, when God didn’t appear to be coming through for the, over and over they would complain about it:

“At the Lord’s command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness of Sin[a] and moved from place to place. Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. 2 So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded. “Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?”-Exodus 17:1-2

From Marah to Rephidim, the Israelites complained about God’s lack of provision, even after He repeatedly and miraculously met their needs in every circumstance. They went from praising God for His mighty works to complaining about His expediency. It begs the question, Is God only God when He is performing in a way that benefits us or that we approve?We praise Him when He shows up in a person’s life and delivers them from cancer, but what about the times that He doesn’t show up and that person dies? Is God, still not God?

I am reminded of the book of Job:

“Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”-Job 1:8-11

Satan challenged God with this argument: the reason Job serves you is because you constantly protect him and prosper him. Take it all away and see if he is so quick to serve you. Don’t answer all his prayers and see what that does to his faith. So God allowed Satan to rob Job of his wealth, health and family. And when pressed Job makes this bold declaration: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”-Job 13:15

Many people point to those moments of suffering and perceived injustices to define God’s character; to vilify Him and challenge His goodness. If God is so good, they ask, then why didn’t He stop this? Yet, they themselves give no heed otherwise to His word, doctrine or instruction, which in many cases could have, if it had been followed, avoided the tragedy all together. The tendency, however, is to exclude God from most every area of our lives until there is a tragedy and then they cry out to Him to step in and intervene and when He doesn’t we become angry at God. This has caused many to dismiss Him because He didn’t intervene as they had hoped or expected.

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church