What Happens When Christians Think God Is Not Good4 min read

I bet you have heard testimonies like this in church. “I was in need of so-and-so. I prayed but nothing happened. Then I did this-and-that or gave a seed-faith and voila, God did it.” Then not too long afterwards, we hear a sermon corroborating the testimony asking us to practice some form of action to “move God” to do whatever we need.

I think I am finding out every day that we (I included) don’t really know what it means to have God as our father. You see, if this is the way God is, then we have a dysfunctional dad in the family. I bet you know in your heart that God is not a dysfunctional dad and He is the standard by which all other dads should be measured.

So if we agree with the premise that God is good, then there must be something wrong with us if we think we need to play a “long con” to get him to give us what we need.

The only condition that Jesus gave us to get anything from God was to ask in His Name by faith – no more, no less. But I understand the frustration of waiting and thinking that perhaps we need to “move God’s hands” on the matter.

I am still trying to accept the fact that God is good and will do all things in His time and on time especially if the timing does not agree with my own time. I have been through the waiting period on some personal matters and it is not a calming experience. But through it all, I have held myself with this truth – GOD IS MORE CONCERNED ABOUT ME THAN I COULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT MYSELF.

There are also times that He has come through faster than I expected and in a way I never thought of. For example, my first job after school was all down to God. He gave me clear timelines which He kept. So I am learning to reassure myself with examples like these when it seems like God is taking His time.

So what do I think about testimonies like that seem to ascribe God’s intervention to “something” the person did? Let me start with this – because you don’t see the whole picture doesn’t mean your picture is the whole picture.

God has already given us all we need by giving us Jesus Christ. That’s why we have all things we need in Jesus. But because God is a Good Father, He gives us what we need when we need it not when we want it.

The problem is that if His timing coincides with when we do “something”, we assume we got it because we did something to “move His hands”. The great thing about God is that because He is good, He doesn’t take back what He has done to prove we are wrong. And we go about with the wrong notion that we got it because of what we did and not because God is Good.

The only reason we get stuff from God is because God is good. Some people think that because they give tithes, care for the needy, preach to the lost, God owes them and should therefore do whatever they ask.

God has already given His best and all He could give by giving you Jesus. All you are really doing by doing all this good stuff is showing how grateful you are for the sacrifice of Christ. God doesn’t owe you for what you are doing because you still haven’t paid Him back for the sacrifice of Christ. And really you will always be in red because you can’t pay up for that.

God does not owe us for our faithfulness even though He rewards our faithfulness. It is also His choice on how He wants to reward us. This makes everything I get from Him because of what I did a gift not a gift. And we can’t out-give God because He is too good for that.

So no matter how much He makes you wait for Him to meet that need or even if He decides you don’t need what you think you need, choose to believe He hears you when you pray.

And it’s ok to ask for the same thing many times (I bet you do that even with your earthly dads) – He is patient to listen to you every time. But He will still do it IN HIS TIME.

I’m so sure I’ll have to write one more post on this matter.