It was a God thing

It was a God thing, and I know it because I...

• Got tickets to a sold out play...
• Won $500 to pay my bills from a Radio Station...
• Found cancer at an early stage, by accident...
• Saw a photo that was so amazing, it just touched my heart...

In modern American Christendom, I hear things like this all the time.  Pulling into the mall and

getting a good parking spot brings out a chorus of "Oh, there is a great spot! Go God!!!"  My question in today's post is simple: are these really "God things?" Does God reach down here and sweep someone out of a parking spot near the door because He loves you so much?

Don't go running for cover right now, I'm not denying or downplaying God's amazing love [Romans 5:8-10] in any way, it is Amazing! And I do believe it's wonderful to thank Him for all blessings, so just hear me out on this.  On the one hand, I agree that there is a sense in which we can attribute all these things to God.  Scripture teaches us that He "gives us richly all things to enjoy" [1 Timothy 6:17] and "every good and perfect gift is from above" [James 1:17].  Yes, it is appropriate to praise God when you score a touchdown or to thank God that He created you with the ability to experience emotion.

However, that grand overarching "everything good comes from God" isn't the sense I'm concerned about in this post, and it's not what's meant when one gets a selfish desire fulfilled and yells "Go God!".  You see, the same scriptures that teach us to give thanks to God in all things, [1 Thessalonians 5:18] also tell us He makes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust [Matthew 5:45].  Normal blessings of life are for everyone, not just those who believe in Him.  Since that's true, a radio station contest, or a game winning touchdown may be blessings given to Christians, or they may be given to those who don't serve God at all.

The other side of that coin deals with our attitude of praise.  Do you praise God when you're tackled on the 1 yard line causing you to lose the game and ending your season?  Do you thank God that he created you with emotion when you're so frustrated and angry your hands shake and you 'can't see straight'?  "Oh, well, I praise Him when I win, but sometimes forget to when I lose."  Interesting...

There is a sense, all too common among Christian folk, that God is specifically, minutely and personally orchestrating every experience I have to coddle me, clear obstacles and generally make me have a problem free life.  The mindset is often that "God loves me so much, he wants me to have a good parking place at the mall."  And that argument goes something like this: "Don't you love your kids enough to give them the good parking place?  Don't you think God loves His children as much as we love our children?"  Yes, I would, and yes I do, however, because I really love them a bunch, I would give them not just a good place, but the best place wouldn't you?
The problems with this should be obvious.  First, sometimes I go to the mall and have to park half a mile away.  What message about God's love does that give me?  Does God, for some reason not love me so much today?  "Oh no", you say, "He knows I need the exercise."  Great, so did you say "Go God!" when you got that far away space?  And what about the days when you get a close spot at the mall, but later have to walk the parking lot at Walmart?  Did you need exercise at 10am, but not at noon?  This may seem petty, or even a bit unappreciative to some of you, and please know that I

mean no disrespect to God at all in this, what I do mean is let's think carefully with the minds God gave us.  I am perfectly aware that if you want to believe He is orchestrating parking places and touchdowns like Bobby Fischer at a chess board then you can explain away every instance I could raise, but this isn't my only problem with this mindset.

Measuring God's love by things like sports or conveniences doesn't make good biblical sense.  Jesus Christ did not live a hassle-free, trouble free life, and we know God loved Him.  None of the apostles lived a 'charmed life', in fact, all of them but one were murdered for their faith. God Himself warns us that "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" [2 Timothy 3:12]

Another problem is that very often when people say these things, as I dig a little deeper, I find out that the "sold out play"

that they got tickets to was filled with profanity and immorality.  Or the 'bills I'm gonna pay' with that $500 are my cable bill with the HBO/Showtime package, where my kids are going to learn about sex in graphic detail at 2am, and a ticket I got for speeding while texting in a school zone.  Do we really think God is in the business of blessing us by specifically, minutely, and personally removing obstacles to and funding our immorality and bad choices?

The final problem I want to mention, which plays directly to the issue of faith is this.  If God loves you so much He will open up the best parking space at the mall for you, what do you say, how do you process it, what coping mechanism do you break out when you get cancer? 

Does God not love you anymore?  You just told me He gives you touchdowns and good parking places because He loves you and those who love their kids give them good things.  Remember?  you'd give your kid the good parking space...?  So, would you give your kid cancer?  No.  Would you cure them if you could?  Of course you would.  I've seen it over and over, people who believe [without any biblical evidence] that God walks along moving pebbles from their path, when they are faced with a boulder feel abandoned by God, and that becomes justification for abandoning God.

I want you to consider this question because your life will get hard sometimes, and when it does, if you've lived in the fairy tale world of "health, wealth and prosperity" thinking it is so because you

have found favor in God's eyes, you will be overwhelmingly tempted to turn on Him for abandoning you,when that hasn't happened at all. He didn't abandon Esther in her time of trouble, or David, or Sarah, or Deborah, or Abraham, or Daniel, or Mary, or Paul, or Job...and he won't abandon you.  Quit judging your life by circumstantial blessings, and judge it by the relationship you genuinely have with God and Jesus Christ His son.