"I Don't Love You, God!"

It was a meltdown of magnitude proportions.

We've all seen them, sometimes even been a party to one, but this one was earsplitting. I did not witness the initial explosion, but the verbal ashes and smoke drifted several aisles over to the aisle where I was shopping.

Initially concerned that someone might have been injured, I made my way purposefully to the source of the screams. I arrived just in time to observe a father gathering up his son, arms flailing and legs kicking, from the floor where he had launched himself.

"You can't have it because it's not good for you," he reasoned.

"But I waaaaaaaaaaaaant it!" the child wailed.

"I have something better for you at home," the dad patiently responded.

"But I waaaaaaaaaaaaaaant it," the tiny tyrant screamed.

"Trust me," the father responded, "I know what's best for you, and I love you."

"Well,  I DON'T LOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!" the child wailed as his father carried him through the exit doors.

I chuckled at the childishness of the little fella. Until I saw a glimpse of myself in him.

How many times, I wondered, have I thrown myself down on the floor of life and spouted my own little volcanic eruption? How many times have I doubted God's love when I didn't get something that I desperately wanted? How many times have I withheld my love from God in a petulant spiritual pout when a situation didn't turn out the way I desired, or when He answered my prayers in a different way than I had asked?

How many times has He said to me, in response to my anger and disappointment,

"Trust me. I know what's best for you, and I love you."

It is hardest to trust when what we want is good --  health,  healing, opportunity, abundance, restoration. We pray for good things, and yet God doesn't give us what we ask for. As songwriter Laura Story sings in her song Blessings, "We doubt Your goodness. We doubt your love." 

Carol Kent, author of the book, When I Lay My Isaac Down, identifies with our tendency as frail human beings to want to turn our backs on God when life takes a wrong turn. During one of her darkest hours, she prayed, "Lord, where would I go if I turned away from you? If I didn't have You, I would have nothing. I have nowhere to turn, so while I'm pounding Your chest with my hurt, pain, and anger, please know that I am still facing you, still leaning into the warmth of your embrace, not sure I can trust You, but knowing You are all I have." She shares a similar entry from her husband's journal, "We will choose life. We will choose hope.”

Job shared a similar faith message, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15).

Although our circumstances may be cruel, painful, or heartbreaking, God is not. Listen to truth that triumphs over our circumstances from Romans 8:32,

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

We have no grounds on which to doubt His love and care for us. He has already given us the greatest love gift of all. Everything else is easy. The logic of scripture says it this way: If God has already given us the greatest love gift of all, then He has no reason to withhold anything else that is in our best interest.

God's love for us was settled when He allowed His beloved Son (picture your child) to be lied about, mocked, beaten, whipped, spit upon, pierced, and ultimately nailed to a bloody Roman cross.

"For God so loved . . . "

We have no grounds to doubt His love.

We have no reason to doubt His hand in our lives.

We have no reason not to trust Him to freely give us all things that are good for us.

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

Do you love Him today?

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Do You Believe in Fairies?

One of my favorite movies is Peter Pan.  I love the whimsy of pixie dust, the magic of a faraway land where children never grew old, and the excitement of the age-old battle between good and evil.

One of the most poignant scenes in the movie is when Tinkerbell the fairy, remorseful over her jealous act against Wendy, flies straight into the heat of the battle between Peter and Captain Hook.  She is injured in the fray, and lies near death, her little fairy glow growing dimmer and dimmer.

Peter rallies the children all over the word to chant, "I DO believe in fairies. I DO. I DO believe in fairies. I DO! I DO!"  The collective force of their belief infuses life into little Tinkerbell, and she rises from near death to live again.

Some in our world equate the Christian faith with believing in fairies.  They believe it to be a warm fuzzy hope with little basis.

I beg to differ.

The fifth chapter of Mark gives us an example of the power of true faith. Jairus is a religious man.  One of the rulers of the synagogue, he was part of the establishment that was opposing Jesus.  But his young daughter lay near death, and he was desperately seeking Jesus' help. Falling at Jesus' feet, he begged him earnestly, "Come and lay Your  hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."

The Master responded immediately, but on the way to Jairus' home, servants brought word that the child had died.  "Your daughter is dead," his servants reported, "Why trouble the Teacher any further?"

"As soon as Jesus heard the words that were spoken, he said, 'Do not be afraid; only believe.'"  We know the glorious end of this story -- that Jesus entered the home, took the child by the hand, spoke her name, and raised her from the dead.

Unlike believing in the fairies of Peter Pan's Neverland, though, the faith that Jairus exercised was vastly different. Instead of hoping in something that had no basis, Jairus placed his faith in God Himself.

Unike Jairus, who had a limited understanding of Christ, we have the whole canon of scripture and the proof of history on which to base our faith.  

The resurrection of Christ, which is the validation of His claim to be God in the flesh, is one of the most historically attested facts of our age.The authenticity of the Bible cannot be disproved, and has been affirmed over and over by discoveries of science and archaeology. Whenever there is a "new" discovery that skeptics believe will discount scripture, it instead serves to confirm the biblical account.  Josh McDowell's books Evidence that Demands a Verdict and More than a Carpenter and  Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ catalog many of the indisputable proofs of the truth of Christ.

Jairus based his faith not on warm fuzzy sentiment, but on cold hard facts. Jesus Christ had the power to raise the dead, heal the sick, and save souls. We know that Jairus' faith was rewarded. He received his child back from the dead.

Unlike believing in fairies, we pray to the same God Who raised Jairus' daughter. Like the account of long ago, Jesus hears our prayers, cares about our struggles, and wants to work in our lives.  Most importantly, he has the power to glorify himself in your situation.  If you're struggling in your faith walk today, allow the words of Jesus to speak to your heart.


"Do not be afraid; only believe."

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