Don’t buy Velcro……………..It’s a rip-off!
Have you ever felt like you have been ripped off by God? I know that I have. I’ve come to that point a few different times in my life. When this happens, what do we do? Do we desert the Christian life? Do we turn our back on God because we feel He has turned His back on us?
Before considering what to do, we must look at the who. Who is God? Do any of us know God’s mind? The answer is no. None of us know God’s mind. None of us are God, and there are aspects of God that we just cannot grasp (although I’ve spent an enjoyable lifetime trying to learn more about Him). When I think God is ripping me off, I always think of Job. Although Job never speaks against God, we do see that he wishes God would have never let him be born. In chapter three, verse 3a states, “Let the day perish on which I was born…” (NASB 1995 update).
That brings us to the age-old question of why God allows so many bad things to happen to the world in general. The answers are difficult to accept, but they are in plain sight. First, we as a World have asked God to step back and stay out of our lives. He has done so. When we ask, “Where is God?” We know the answer. He is right where we asked Him to be. He is standing back and letting a corrupt World take its course.
The second answer is found in Job chapters thirty-eight through forty-two. Here, God asks some difficult questions, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? (38:4) Who contains the sea? (38:8) Do you know when the mountain goat gives birth? (39:1).” The point of all of these questions is to prove one point. God is God, and we are not. When I feel ripped off by God, what do I do? I can certainly tell Him how I feel (Habakkuk did this). However, I also have to trust Him. I must trust Him because no matter how much I study or learn, the truth is that He is God, and I am not. When I do not understand God, I pray Habakkuk’s prayer. “Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.” (NASB update 1995).