| I
once listened as a preacher attempted to convince his audience that God no longer
worked miracles and was not active today. Using little Biblical reference, he
claimed God was only active during that period in which Biblical characters were
alive. In an effort to "hammer home his point" he reminded his audience
of their reliance on doctors and medicine rather than God when they were sick.
I would describe
this idea as astonishing, yet I have never heard that expression used to convey
a lack of faith. It discourages me to consider the condition of his prayer life.
It frightens me to imagine how many young Christians heard his sermon. Coincidence
or God? Just as
most Christians I know, when I pray, I thank God for the good things in my life.
I reject the idea of "giving thanks" to chance for these blessings.
If God is not responsible for the gifts in my life, why should I pray? Paul tells
us to devote ourselves to prayer (I Corinthians 7:5) and to be "faithful"
in prayer. Would Paul encourage us to be faithful in prayer to a God who does
not act to answer them? Paul
speaks of those who do not thank God, or trust God in Romans 1:21-23: "For
although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,
but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although
they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal
God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles."
Note that Paul
says that they did know God. At least they did at one point. It was at the point
when they no longer gave credit to God for his activity that their thinking "became
futile." It
was during this time of "futile" thinking that they claimed to be wise.
You see, this was the turning point. This was when they decided that God did not
act in their lives and, therefore, what they had was a result of themselves. Paul
says that because of this "they became fools." Choosing
Our Own God When
someone sees himself as wise he chooses his own God. Paul later says they "exchanged
the glory of the immortal God..." These people swapped the creator for the
created. They gave thanks to man, and man made things, rather than God. Has
God Retired? "Elijah,"
the Bible says, "was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would
not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he
prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops" (James
5:17-18). God has not retired. The same God who healed still heals and answers
all kinds of prayers. When
a believer decides that God does not deserve credit for the things He does, God
will become inactive in his or her life. Perhaps that's why God is not active
in the lives of those who preach that He isn't active anymore. The
next time you fold your hands to pray, remember the words of Peter: "For
the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their
prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Who is going to
harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is
right, you are blessed.(1 Peter 3:12) by
Lee Wilson
© 2005 Lee Wilson. All rights reserved.
Click
here for information on Lee's book, The Real Heaven.
 |
The Real Heaven:
It's Not What You Think
by
Joe Beam and Lee Wilson
"What
will Heaven be like?" Have you ever wondered? Do you want to know what the
Bible means when it talks about "the New Earth" and "the Kingdom
of Heaven? Will we recognize our loved ones? Will we be in an eternal church service?
What will we do?
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