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No Ifs, Ands, or Buts
By Marc | December 9, 2007
At church yesterday (Sunday), I sat listening to our worship leader singing. I usually sing along, but I’ve had a bad cold and my voice starts to give out. But in just listening, I found myself drifting into prayer and thinking about the usual stuff in life: family, goals, talents, etc.
I asked God to care for my family and also to lead me where He wants me to go (as is usual when I pray). But I get stuck in the idea that these might be construed as related or that one is conditional. I don’t want God to think that I will do what He wants me to do IF he does what I ask, so I spent time trying to explain to Him my intent. As if He needed me to explain what was on my heart. He knows me better than I do.
But this whole train of thought led me to thinking about how we sometimes set conditions on our relationship with the Almighty. I probably have, but I don’t think I do consciously. I get flustered with Him and ask why bad things happen when I think I’ve done what He asked of me.
So my mind led me to the topic for this entry, the excuses we make: Ifs, Ands, and Buts.
When I didn’t believe, I would "prove" to myself that God didn’t exist by using the if/and test. I would say, "IF there is a God, I want Him to show Himself to me." Or I could say, "Listen, God, IF you exist, I dare You to strike me down." It never worked, so I thought I should be more detailed and add things (you know, to make sure I called the shots). "IF You do what I ask, AND You show Yourself, AND you perform some sort of miracle before my eyes, THEN I will believe in You."
This kind of unfulfilling demand system can go on until my last breath and nothing will be good enough. Since God didn’t prove Himself according to my standards or couldn’t offer enough to my satisfaction, then I could easily dismiss Him and make myself feel that much smugger.
Believers can use the same test, with a slightly different motive, and adding an occasional "but".
If God answers our prayers to our benefit, then we’ll do what He asks. Or, on the other side, I’ll do what You ask and obey Your laws, but You have to bless me and make my life easier.
If you’ve ever seen the movie The End
We can just go round and round with our conditions to our obedience and faith, and we will never be satisfied with anything. There is something in ourselves that feels obligated to receive something in our favor for our labors.
God, like I’ve said before, isn’t some sort of a genie that can be conjured up to obey our commands. He is God, and asks for our obedience.
The other night (late late night), the movie Life Is Beautiful
God can do what He wants when He wants. He blesses and gives favor to those who follow Him, but not always in the ways we would like. He doesn’t have to do what we ask, but sometimes He does. He has already given us more than enough to be thankful for. Life, food, water, air, forgiveness, among other things.
We can offer our gifts to Him: our talents, our lives, our time, our money. But they should remain gifts, not some bartering tool or a way to try to guilt God into making our lives easier.
Gideon was called by God to defend Israel from invaders, but Gideon wanted proof that God was really going to save them. He trusted in the Lord, but I think he needed to be reassured that the Lord wanted him, a nobody, to do this great thing. He was willing to do what was asked, but needed to know it was God behind it all. He didn’t barter, he just wanted the reassurance, which is the right way to do it.
I needed God to know, not for His sake but for my own, that my obedience to Him was excluded from my request that my family be protected.
As Christians, it is far more important for us to do what is required of us rather than what we can gain from what we do. Obedience, not sacrifice.
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