Tuesday, July 12, 2022

God causes....


 Cause - make something happen

How many times I have said, "God didn't cause it (whatever the "it" might be) but he allowed it."

Somehow, especially when it came to my husband's death, it described a gentler, more loving God. Surely it was just sin that took my beloved's life. A bad choice, a broken world. Bad things happen to good people. 

I squinched my eyes several times writing that last paragraph because I want to erase the very thought that this God I serve would cause that for me.

But this is what I think I knew about God but didn't...this is what I'm learning about God that amazes me, has me praising him on one hand and asking why on the other. He IS sovereign!

Sovereign is defined as the right of God to exercise his ruling power over his creation.

Now look at this scenario....On a random day in 1986 I was driving and I knew with 100% certainty God called me. Did I hear God out of my own strength or my own doing? No. How, having never been raised in the Church, would I have been able to orchestrate my own salvation? I simply could not. The truth is God CAUSED my ears to hear that day at that time during that particular trial. And how did I finally come to this new understanding? And how did this new understanding give me such incredible freedom?

My church is doing a summer sermon series on Psalm 119. Several weeks ago our pastor preached on verses 33-40.


•TEACH ME, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.

•GIVE ME understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.

•LEAD ME in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.

•INCLINE MY heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain.

•TURN MY eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.

•COMFIRM TO your servant your promise, that you may be feared.

•TURN AWAY the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good.

•BEHOLD, I LONG for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!

Psalm 119:33‭-‬40 ESV

He made the most profound statement.....he said the psalmist didn't just proclaim these truths. He didn't just request, "Teach me" See, this is where I begin to think I have a bit of control. Ask God, he'll do it. I can take credit for asking. I had a part. NO! That is absolute wrong thinking. And this is where I finally heard the truth....God CAUSED the psalmist to ASK......in obedience to God, he asked God to TEACH him, GIVE him understanding, LEAD him...and so on.

This is a complete dependence on God. Nothing done in my own strength. I literally have nothing to bring. THAT is freedom! Honestly, there is always freedom when I extract myself from the equation. Always!

Genesis 7:4 God proclaims, "For after seven more days I will CAUSE it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.”

Deuteronomy 12:11 say this, "then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to CAUSE his name to dwell there...."

Job 37:13 says, "Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he CAUSES it to happen."

James 4:5 says that God CAUSED the Spirit to live in us.

1 Peter 1:3 says "In his great mercy he CAUSED us to be born again"

I looked up synonyms for cause...here are a few:

Bring about, give rise to, lead to, result in, create, produce, generate, originate, prompt, provoke, kindle, trigger, make happen, spark off, touch off, stir up, whip up, induce, inspire, promote, foster.

As I read through the list I'm certain I can find, in scripture, each of these alternate descriptions of "cause". 

Do you know how hard it is to sit here and write that a loving God, one I accept, love and adore as my Savior and King, caused the circumstances to happen as they did that resulted in my husband's death? 

But I simply cannot separate a sovereign God. I can't make a list and say this but not that. What I can say is that I don't see everything. I see my side. I see the destruction of my family unit. I see sorrow and pain. I see a family that is no longer whole. It's so much easier to say God allowed it to happen but he had nothing to do with the actual event. 

That leaves me to pick and choose. To thank God for good things and to curse him for the bad.

What if my tragedy is someone else's triumph? What if that young girl turned from her ways and now has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? I don't know that I will ever say, "Yes, it was worth it" but I can say, to a degree, I understand it. I understand that there is freedom in saying, "God, I know you're in control and I am not. You see everything, I see a small portion."

I love the synonym "kindle". I think about a fire. It starts with a spark and then there's a smoldering, then a flame.... then a bright, beautiful raging fire. 

That's my walk...God caused my ears to hear. He caused the spark. He caused the smoldering, the questioning, the learning.....he fanned the flames to know him more and more......more deeply, more intimately.....it was not ME it was Christ IN me.

A big part of me still believes God to be a mystery....and I think in many ways he really is. That's where faith comes in. Sometimes I pray, "Lord, give me the "want to" to do your will..." And sometimes I have to pray, " Lord, give me the "want to" to " want to".

Bold prayers are difficult for me. I never know how God is going to answer, what he is going to use or what circumstance he's going to put me in. But you know what? That is okay. Because I may think I have the right answer...I certainly KNOW I have the comfortable answer....but God KNOWS. 

I'm so grateful for sound biblical teaching in my church. It changes lives. It renews and refreshes me at the deepest level, my heart. The lessons can be truly painful but they are not without purpose, thanks be to God.

Have a beautiful day.

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