Would you be shocked if I told you that there are days when I question the goodness of God? Most of the time I live contently and with faith. From my childhood my day-to-day existence has been formed around the basic assumptions that there is a God Whom I can trust, Who is active in the world and to Whom my prayers are addressed with real expectation that He loves and cares for me.

Moments come when, for reasons I do not fully understand, that faith comes under assault, when I wonder if God is cruel or loving, if He is involved or aloof, if He is ready to save or destroy. In those moments, I call to mind the fact that perspective matters!
Look at the ground, you see rocks.
Lift your eyes, you see mountains!
If I take only the short-term view, seeing God through the lens of the moment’s trouble or disappointment, I might conclude that He cannot be trusted.
If I look at life over the long-term,
if I consider the testimony of the saints of the ages, faith grows.

There is an ancient story in the Scripture from the life of Elisha. The elite soldiers of Israel’s enemy were chasing the prophet and his servant. Finally, they were surrounded in a little village named Dothan. When Elisha’s servant went out in the morning and realized they were trapped he panicked. Elisha ‘saw’ the situation differently. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6)

That story helps me to understand that I too am surrounded by the goodness of God, that despite situations that seem overwhelming or that invite me to fear, a change of perspective will bring new faith. I am not speaking of wishful thinking or escapism into an alternate reality created in my own mind. We should pray, as Paul does, for the Spirit’s work, that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1)

IF we judge God by the limited wisdom of the human mind we are exercising an awful arrogance. That does not mean that we will never question, nor does it mean that we will find every bump in life’s road smoothed away. In my 70 years, I have endured seasons of loss, of disappointment, of failure. There are things in my life for which I have no present explanation. I could accuse God of being uncaring or forgetful – except for the Truth that the eternal Word reveals to me.

So, even when I weep, I pray for eyes that see beyond the moment, that I will live in the ‘knowledge of God’s will’ so that my life will be worthy of the Lord, full of spiritual fruit of holy and good behavior. In the same letter of Ephesians Paul prays that Christians “may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3)  

When faith allows me to take hold of God’s love in a way that is beyond human reason, there is a visible result in life – I will overflow with God’s ‘fullness,’ living in a supernaturally charged way that is incomprehensible to those without the Holy Spirit living in them.

Are you accusing God of forgetting you, mistreating you, or of being unfair? Pray for a change of point of view, asking to see all the way to Heaven! God is not afraid of your questions so go ahead and ask them, but not with bitterness, nor in angry. Come to Him as a broken-hearted child takes the sorrow of life to a loving Dad. Rest in Him, realizing that some things are simply beyond our understanding in this moment but that He is a good, good Father.

Here’s the word from the Word. As you read it, give thanks that the Spirit calls you
from darkness to Light,
from mere religion to eternal glory, and
then with a perspective of eternity guiding your thoughts learn to live like a King’s kid today.

“This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone… to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing.

The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less.”
(Colossians 1:26-30, The Message)

Amen!
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Video of this blog

https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55