“My friend prayed so hard. But after so many years, why God did not bless him with a good job and a good salary? Also why is the Pastor’s hair not growing back even after words were declared over him? Why is God not helping me?” my friend said as two of my other friends tried to help him see God’s faithfulness. My friend was a good Christian. He was on fire for God. He started prayer meetings. He spoke in tongues. He was so strong, so when he told us that he does not believe in God anymore shocked us.
After much talking he said angrily, “I know all what you are saying. I have done all that. You don’t have to teach me. There is no God”. One of my friend replied, “You are challenging God?” “Yes I am,” he replied. “God love challenges,” my friend snapped the conversation with that.
My friend was facing a personal problem. It was serious. Also seeing the injustice and imperfections around him he questioned God where is He when it hurts. And being interested in philosophy he wrestled with the idea of God even with other religion. So he concluded that there is no God.
We struggle in our faith living in a world of sin. We question God many times because we do not see Him in our troubled times. Sometimes we are afraid to reason our belief. In such a time as this, we should not blind ourselves with our limited vision. Rather we should seek God. “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29). It is not surprising if we become desperate for an answer. But by being reckless we only dirty the water when we should be still and see what is at the bottom of the river. And waiting for the Lord does not mean waiting for the problems to settle down or postponing the problems. It is waiting, trusting and hoping in the Lord. So wait on the Lord and we will renew our strength (Isaiah 43:31).
God was faithful. Prayers prayed. One Friday evening my friend thought of going to Church as he felt like going. There was a service on Friday. Something happened during the service. As the Pastor spoke his questions were answered one by one. And to his surprise the Pastor said, “God does not look at my hair but at my heart.” He wandered whether the Pastor heard him complaining. But it was God ordering his steps. He left the service contended and light hearted.
The next day my friend invited him for a prayer meeting at another Pastor’s house. They were three of them. In the prayer meet each of them got some prayer points to pray for. They had to pray one after another. My friend prayed. Then his turn came. It had been for so long he did not prayed. He opened his mouth and tried to pray but he could not utter any words. It never happened before. He tried again but failed. Then he felt deep down in his heart he missed God so much. He knew then he had pushed God away from his life. So he looked at the emptiness of his heart and embraced the wide open arms of God, welcoming God to his heart again. It was like the prodigal son embracing his father after the return. Tears started rolling down uncontrollably. Then he opened his mouth and said, “Thank You Jesus.” That was all he could say. But the joy in him was overflowing like a fountain. He repeated the same words again. The words were few but it was worth more than any gems or jewels. It was the voice of the lost son directing to the Father in whose arms he found shelter, home, acceptance, love and forgiveness. All these made sense to him because he knew the One he is talking to.
We question God because we fail to see Him in our troubled times. What is it that will help us see God all the time? It is not by being busy for the Lord. We can run the whole day and feel good but we will be tired. We can be a good preacher or influencer. We may be gifted with many gifts. But it is still not so. It is not the religious practice that will make our eyes fixed to see God always. It will be just a ritual and will become a habit making us to forget the purpose of it.
It is not by isolating ourselves from the world. We will be just like a post put up; it will never grow its roots. The answer is when we know God personally we will be able to see God’s hand all the time. All the above points will make sense if we have this.
Ravi Zacharias, a famous apologetics, said, “Why do most of the people who claimed to be supernaturally transformed show poorly of a transformed life?” There are many things we can be attracted to but it is not enough to smell the roses. We need to know how to grow it.
Knowing God as our creator is not enough. We need to know Him as our Father (Matthew 6:9). It is the bond where we share every part of our lives with God. If we know God personally we will live a transformed life. We will bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). For we live no more but Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20).
So how do we develop our relationship with God? Desire God. Seek Him everyday. Have you ever known someone so dearly? We know the bond is not built overnight. Every relationship is built on communication by both the parties. It is built by daily walking side by side. “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continues to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7).
No wonder, my friend recalled he lacked personal prayer times during the time he pushed God aside. Now he is glowing in Christ not because he got his prayers and questions answered but he knows God personally. He is still facing the problem but he now sees God’s hand in it. We may not have all questions or prayers answered but knowing God personally will help us say, “Lord, I have You”.
We will know that we know God personally when we bow down our head and be able to say,
“Father, my Father”.
“...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...” (2 Peter 3:18)
Tewu Mero is a currently doing Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Studies at Hyderabad. For this young writer from Pfutsero, Phek, “It is all about God.” He is also the creator of the group ‘I Love My BIBLE In My Mobile’ in the social networking site Facebook which has more than one thousand two hundred and eighty plus members. Tewu Mero will be contributing regularly to The Morung Express.
After much talking he said angrily, “I know all what you are saying. I have done all that. You don’t have to teach me. There is no God”. One of my friend replied, “You are challenging God?” “Yes I am,” he replied. “God love challenges,” my friend snapped the conversation with that.
My friend was facing a personal problem. It was serious. Also seeing the injustice and imperfections around him he questioned God where is He when it hurts. And being interested in philosophy he wrestled with the idea of God even with other religion. So he concluded that there is no God.
We struggle in our faith living in a world of sin. We question God many times because we do not see Him in our troubled times. Sometimes we are afraid to reason our belief. In such a time as this, we should not blind ourselves with our limited vision. Rather we should seek God. “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29). It is not surprising if we become desperate for an answer. But by being reckless we only dirty the water when we should be still and see what is at the bottom of the river. And waiting for the Lord does not mean waiting for the problems to settle down or postponing the problems. It is waiting, trusting and hoping in the Lord. So wait on the Lord and we will renew our strength (Isaiah 43:31).
God was faithful. Prayers prayed. One Friday evening my friend thought of going to Church as he felt like going. There was a service on Friday. Something happened during the service. As the Pastor spoke his questions were answered one by one. And to his surprise the Pastor said, “God does not look at my hair but at my heart.” He wandered whether the Pastor heard him complaining. But it was God ordering his steps. He left the service contended and light hearted.
The next day my friend invited him for a prayer meeting at another Pastor’s house. They were three of them. In the prayer meet each of them got some prayer points to pray for. They had to pray one after another. My friend prayed. Then his turn came. It had been for so long he did not prayed. He opened his mouth and tried to pray but he could not utter any words. It never happened before. He tried again but failed. Then he felt deep down in his heart he missed God so much. He knew then he had pushed God away from his life. So he looked at the emptiness of his heart and embraced the wide open arms of God, welcoming God to his heart again. It was like the prodigal son embracing his father after the return. Tears started rolling down uncontrollably. Then he opened his mouth and said, “Thank You Jesus.” That was all he could say. But the joy in him was overflowing like a fountain. He repeated the same words again. The words were few but it was worth more than any gems or jewels. It was the voice of the lost son directing to the Father in whose arms he found shelter, home, acceptance, love and forgiveness. All these made sense to him because he knew the One he is talking to.
We question God because we fail to see Him in our troubled times. What is it that will help us see God all the time? It is not by being busy for the Lord. We can run the whole day and feel good but we will be tired. We can be a good preacher or influencer. We may be gifted with many gifts. But it is still not so. It is not the religious practice that will make our eyes fixed to see God always. It will be just a ritual and will become a habit making us to forget the purpose of it.
It is not by isolating ourselves from the world. We will be just like a post put up; it will never grow its roots. The answer is when we know God personally we will be able to see God’s hand all the time. All the above points will make sense if we have this.
Ravi Zacharias, a famous apologetics, said, “Why do most of the people who claimed to be supernaturally transformed show poorly of a transformed life?” There are many things we can be attracted to but it is not enough to smell the roses. We need to know how to grow it.
Knowing God as our creator is not enough. We need to know Him as our Father (Matthew 6:9). It is the bond where we share every part of our lives with God. If we know God personally we will live a transformed life. We will bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). For we live no more but Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20).
So how do we develop our relationship with God? Desire God. Seek Him everyday. Have you ever known someone so dearly? We know the bond is not built overnight. Every relationship is built on communication by both the parties. It is built by daily walking side by side. “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continues to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7).
No wonder, my friend recalled he lacked personal prayer times during the time he pushed God aside. Now he is glowing in Christ not because he got his prayers and questions answered but he knows God personally. He is still facing the problem but he now sees God’s hand in it. We may not have all questions or prayers answered but knowing God personally will help us say, “Lord, I have You”.
We will know that we know God personally when we bow down our head and be able to say,
“Father, my Father”.
“...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...” (2 Peter 3:18)
Tewu Mero is a currently doing Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Studies at Hyderabad. For this young writer from Pfutsero, Phek, “It is all about God.” He is also the creator of the group ‘I Love My BIBLE In My Mobile’ in the social networking site Facebook which has more than one thousand two hundred and eighty plus members. Tewu Mero will be contributing regularly to The Morung Express.
