Critiquing God

Sometimes I think we get into the role of critiquing God. I know I have. It’s very subtle --- little grumblings towards God.

It may take the form of an unthankful heart. We either don’t recognize what God has given us or are not thankful for what He has given us. We may ask God, “Why don’t I have X” or “Why isn’t my life more perfect?”

Other times we blame God, as if God did something wrong. We ask God, “Why did this happen?”

We are not completely satisfied in God. We are not convinced of God’s goodness. We seek satisfaction in things other than God and then turn-around and blame God that we are not satisfied b/c we did not seek the one thing that will provide satisfaction --- God.

Today in worship, God made me aware of how I’ve been “critiquing God” and convicted me of two things. The first thing is that I think I’m a good person. If you would ask most people, including Christians, “Do you think that you are a good person?”, most people would say yes.

We do not recognize the depths of our own sin or the magnitude of God’s grace and forgiveness for our sin, b/c we think we are good people.

Luke 7:41-47 says:
Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

He who has been forgiven little loves little. Because we think we are good people, we are forgiven little, and therefore love little. We do not realize the depths of our own sin, our need for forgiveness, and God’s magnificent grace He has shown us in our life.

The other thing God convicted me of is that I’ve been trying to do stuff on my own. I’ve been relying on myself to accomplish the things I need to do each day instead of going to God and asking Him for help to sustain us through each day. As Piper states it, we need to consider our own inadequacies in light of God’s sufficiency. When I don’t do this, this takes away my join in God as the daily tasks become toil.

Some thoughts going forward:

• To have a thankful heart
• To recognize the depths of my sin and the greatness of God’s grace and forgiveness for my sins
• To rely on God each day for the grace and wisdom to make it through the day
• To hunger and thirst for God w/ passion and to desire after him