Argue with God
When we don't agree with God, we argue with God.
My firstborn daughter inherited my hard head. I don't mean hard as in "skull quality" but in reference to the stubbornness of the brain within.
When she was in the first grade, her teacher gave her a list of spelling words. Her mother took the list and asked the beautiful blonde-haired child to spell some of the words. Blondie failed miserably. Her mother then gave the list back to the beautiful child and said, "You need to study."
The princess then turned into a monster. Red-faced and in tears, she ran into a bathroom and locked the door. Her mother then began to try to reason with the blonde monster behind the door.
"What's wrong?
"You said I needed to study!"
"Well, yes. But baby, it's because I want you to do well on the test."
At this point, we realized that she might have locked the door for our protection. The blonde monster was now furious.
And this conversation went on and on - through wood - to wood. The confusion escalated on the parent side of the door as did the rage from the beautiful little monster locked in the bathroom.
It all boiled down to a misunderstanding. My daughter had in her mind that telling someone to study was the same as saying that they are stupid. She thought her mother was calling her stupid, but all her mom wanted her to do was to study.
After the misunderstanding subsided, the tears dried up and the ice cream came out. Bowls of chocolate Mayfield were enjoyed by all.
Because we are fallen, sinful humans, we must concede that every argument we have with a holy, omniscient God comes from a massive misunderstanding on our part.
Habakkuk is an angry prophet. After God shares His plan to bring an enemy into Israel, Habakkuk moves from anger at God into an argument with God.
You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?
Habakkuk 1:13
What I believe God can do and what I believe God should do may not be what God will do. It is out of this misunderstanding that most of our arguments with God are born.
We also argue with God out of comparison. This is the "life's not fair" line of reasoning. Habakkuk called the people God chose to use traitors. Habakkuk then argued the case for his superior righteousness.
Comparison never works with God. God is not trying to make you like someone else. God is not interested in making you better than bad. God's purpose is not to make you comparable to others, but to conform you to Christ (Rom. 8:29).
Habakkuk lost the argument but received a critical answer. The just shall live by faith (Hab. 2:4). You can't win an argument with God, but you can believe Him.
Bible Study
Read Romans 8:26-30.
- What do you learn about the role of the Holy Spirit from this passage?
- How does this passage call for you to trust God?
- List God's promises to you from this passage.
Challenge
Write down something you want God to do. Why do you want God to do it? Meditate deeply on the truth of Romans 8:26-30 as you reflect on this request. Now, ask the Holy Spirit to work with you to bring you to honesty in praying, "God, what I want you to do may not be what you want to do. What you do may not be how I would do it. Please help me surrender to what you want to do and how you want it done. Make me more like Christ in whatever you do and however you do it. Amen."
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