Parent Relationship

I was thinking the other day about how basically I have been without meaningful employment for the last couple years and that others may be able to relate.   This has been a time where my faith has been challenged and I have had to sort things out.

In the Bible Jesus told me not to worry about what I will wear, what I will eat or where I will live.  But when I still have a stack of bills and no money to pay them, it can make you think that this Bible stuff may be bogus.

For me, that’s when I start to think, that’s when I begin to pray for clarity, for some kind of answer.  We are told in the Bible that God disciplines us as a father disciplines his son.

So how do fathers and children relate?  First and foremost they love each other.  The parent counts on this love being present in the child when they continue to strive with the most disobedient child long after everyone else has given up. If they can just fan that love into a flame, the child can be saved.

The child relies on that love to believe the parent will always be there, even when the child has rebelled and caused the parent great pain the child still expects the parent to be there for them.

Unfortunately many children and parents fall short of this standard but never the less, most of us would acknowledge that this is part of the ideal in a parent/child relationship.

So back to where we find ourselves.  I believe because I am a child of God John 1:12 said to those who received Him and believed on His name, He gave the right to become God’s children.  As God’s child I will be disciplined.  As with my parents, the discipline is given based on love.  As parents we don’t discipline our children because we enjoy inflicting pain.  (If we do there’s something wrong with us).   We do it so they can learn and grow. Remember, the love that our parents have for us and ours for them is based solely on our relationship and so it is with God.

In Romans Chapter 8 vs. 28 it says God will work “ALL” things for good for those who love Him and are called (hear the voice and follow) by His Spirit.  God is not our parent unless he is our father.   Once he is our father we can live our life knowing that, even though things are tough, He will finish what He started.

Now for me to always believe this can be difficult.  Don’t forget about the pile of bills.   But what else could possibly build faith?  When things are going great and we have plenty of cash and no worries, will that build our faith and trust, not so much?  It is during the difficult times that we learn whether what God says is true or not.  Unfortunately many never get to find out because they never become God’s child.

Even while writing this I still admit that I wonder, what other options have I?  When I look at them all I am convinced that my best bet is Jesus Christ.  My most consistent relationship is with God.  How does God become my parent?  By adoption, we ask and He receives.  Just ask Him.

Mary and Martha

During my study time this morning I was in Luke Chapter 10.  There are 3 specific lessons taught in this Chapter.  The first is when Jesus sent his disciples out into the field because it is ripe for harvest; the second is the story of the Good Samaritan where He taught what it means to truly love your neighbor and the third is where Mary and Martha, (Lazarus’s sisters) were reacting to Jesus’s visit in two different ways.

I was primarily struck by the story of Mary and Martha. The standard focus is on how Martha was being practical and Mary unpractical.  Yet Jesus commended Mary for choosing the better thing.  I am a Martha in many ways.  I value my job search time greater than my God search time.  Why do I do that?  Because inside I still buy the lie that the things of this world are where I am going to find satisfaction and peace.  

I just read the line of valuing God search time to my wife.  She said she does not necessarily believe that and feels that we are similar to those who do not work but expect God to drop everything in our laps.  The balance between being responsible and God’s will can be murky.  Setting aside Jesus’s comment about Mary choosing the better thing, we would commend Martha for sharing her gift of helps and would laud her for working her ministry behind the scene, a real servant.  Yet Christ looked deeper and loving Martha, wanted her to realize that first you are called and then you serve.  Any time we serve before we are called we are self-serving.   

How would anyone become a missionary, why would anyone give their time and treasures to the kingdom if they had to rely on themselves and their talents to provide for their daily needs?  Why are we told to, “Seek first the kingdom of God”?  There is only one place where we are told to test God and that is in the area of our finances.  God knows exactly where we are weakest, what the last thing is that we will bring under submission to Him.  That’s why He has emphasized it so heavily and so often.  That is why the rich young ruler left Christ dejected.  (Mark 10: 17-25)

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a person who totally relies on money and the things of this world for their security.   We as Christians are not immune to this deception.  I am not immune to this deception, often I am consumed by it much to the detriment of what God would have me do.

What is the balance? Is there a balance?  I think we would like there to be but Jesus said that once you put your hand to the plow, you should never look back.  He wants all of us. He will use all of us and will provide what we need. Do I really believe this, not always and if I don’t believe it always, do I believe it at all?