I’m behind the times and finally listened to the song The Blessing by Kari Jobe. It immediately became a favorite in our house and so we listen to it all the time now. This morning, we were listening to it, and it just hit me how important it is that we know that He (God) is for us. If we don’t know, or aren’t completely convinced that He is for us, not against us, we don’t know God at all. Knowing that He is always for us, our biggest fan, the one who believes in us most, and the one who wants the best for us at all times, the one who will never hurt us… then we will miss out on so much of Him.
The belief that God will at times inflict pain and suffering on us for some greater purpose goes against the most simple, and yet profound, part of His nature. As a mother, I would never purposely put sickness or suffering on my child so that they learn a lesson. I would never allow them to get hurt so that they learn to trust me. And yet that’s exactly how so many Christians see God as our Father. Every time we get sick, every time something bad happens to us we believe the lie that God has either caused it to happen, or has allowed it to happen for our good. And yet we as parents would never do that to our own children.
God is FOR us! He is not against us, and over and over again in His Word (the Bible) He tells us this very thing. He wants us to know that He is not our enemy and He is not causing or allowing horrible things to happen to us just to become closer to us. Our relationship with God is the only relationship we have where we think this is appropriate. If your daughter were in an abusive relationship, you would tell her to get out of that relationship. You’d probably step in and do something to put an end to it. We would never let our children play with gasoline and matches so that they learn the dangers of it. We would never let our child run out into the middle of the street with a car coming because we’ve told them multiple times not to go out into the street while thinking they need to learn to trust you by getting hit by a car. Yet we believe God does these horrible things for His purposes. If this is true then God is an abusive God. Period. Think about that. God is for us and He is not teaching us important lessons by being abusive.
God has given His all to set us free. He has given us His all so that we may know Him. John 17:3 says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Colossians 1:15 says, “He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” And in John 14, Jesus says that if you had known Him, you would have known the Father. If you want to see who God is, look at Jesus. Did Jesus ever put sickness on someone? No. In fact, we see the exact opposite. We see multiple times in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) that Jesus healed them all. Not just some of the people who came to Him for healing, but ALL of those who asked Him for healing. Jesus’ heart was and is to heal everyone every single time. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Who Jesus was in the Gospels is Who He is today. Jesus was for people. He was for people being set free, being healed, walking in victory. He was for relationship. He is the same today. If we don’t understand that, then we will never know God. We see all throughout scripture how God just wants us to be with Him. He is for us! He wants us to walk with Him in perfect health. He wants us to walk with Him fearlessly. He wants us to walk with Him in prosperity.
As a parent, if there is only one thing I can teach my children it’s that God is for them. Such a simply truth, but it’s the key to understanding scripture and walking in victory. It’s the biggest lie the enemy tries to use against us. He doesn’t want us to know God is for us, because if we did, it would be so much more difficult to believe his (the Devil’s) lies. If I teach my children that God loves them no matter what, they won’t believe the lie that God can no longer love them. If I teach my children that God wants them well and will heal them, then they won’t believe the lie that says, “God is teaching you something through this sickness. He will get glory from your suffering.” If I teach my children the true nature of God’s character then when lies comes, they will recognize them as lies. If you know a fact and hear something that contradicts that fact, you know something is off. Because you know the truth. The same is true with who God is. If we truly know who He is, then when contradictions come up, we know it’s not true. The truth sets us free from confusion.
God does not get glory from our misery. If He did, He wouldn’t have sent Jesus. Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus, the perfect image of God, put sickness on someone or refuse to heal. He does not deny healing or forgiveness or peace. Yet somehow we’ve been taught and believe that there are times and reasons for our sickness, pain and maybe a past that God just can’t forgive. If you have to fight or wrestle with God, you’ve misunderstood Him somewhere. You’re missing something. God does not take us through seasons of pain and suffering to teach us things, or make us stronger, or to bring Himself glory. So many Christians believe that there’s a purpose for everything. But that’s just not true. Sometimes things happen as a result of living in a fallen world. Sometimes things happen as a result of not following God. And I think more often than not, bad things happen as a result of simply not knowing who God is. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” And a lot of people take the rest of that verse as God saying that He will punish people for rejecting knowledge. But I personally believe it’s just God laying out the result of what will happen when we reject knowledge and forget His law (Word). If we don’t know who God is, we won’t receive from Him what we don’t know is ours for the taking. It’s not that God withholds it. If I had a wrapped box for you with the very thing you had been praying for inside it, but you never opened the gift, then you might think God failed you. When in reality, you had it all along. You just didn’t know it. That’s exactly what the Church is experiencing with God. God has given us a gift through Jesus Christ, but we’re not opening it and we’re perishing for a lack of knowledge. Not because it’s God will and plan for us to hurt in different seasons – but because we don’t know what’s ours for the taking.
If you don’t know God is for you and wants you walking in His abundant life, then I encourage you to ask God to show you the lies you’ve been believing about Him. Even if they’ve been “truths” taught in church. God wants to reveal Himself to you. God is for you.
More than ever before, we need to know who God is without question. There is so much pain and destruction in this broken world right now. The world needs the Church to stop hiding our light! The world needs what we have, but sadly, most Christians don’t know what we have been given. People need to know that God is for them. People need to know that Jesus came to give life and life abundant, and that it’s the enemy who is coming to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). If Christians are confused about who’s stealing, killing and destroying, then we have nothing to offer the world. If we think God has stolen from us, or is putting sickness on us for some purpose, then we don’t have anything the world would want. Mamas, rise up and know that God is for you. He is for you, and He is with you. He is saying, “I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose life!”
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” – Deuteronomy 3:19-20
God is saying that if we’re not experiencing life and blessing, and neither are our children, then it is our fault, not His. It is our choice to choose life and blessing. He’s not choosing for us. He’s not deciding when to heal, who to heal, who to bless, who to curse. He has decided in Jesus Christ to heal all every time and to bless all every time. What are you choosing?
Fearless Joy 