I Am Marion Grace - Part 3
Welcome to part three of my introductory blogs. I have been sharing a bit about my inspiration and what I am all about. My fourth ‘banner’ of purpose is kicking over sacred cows. What I mean by that is harmful traditions and religious ideas that keep people in condemnation and bondage-- Ideas that are twisted from the truth and used to separate people from the God who loves them. Here are a few that I dislike the most.
- Don’t pray for patience, God will send you trials.
No, he will not! There are enough trials in this world all by itself. The problem with this religious mindset is that you will not resist the trial or circumstance because you think it is from God. You will just sit there and let the devil steal from you because you think God is trying to teach you a lesson. This is wrong on so many levels, not the least of which is that God does not need the devil’s help to teach you anything. His Word is all we need to learn his will. John 10:10 gives us the ruling measure. If it is stealing, killing, or destroying, it is the devil. If it is life-giving, it is God. I have not seen anywhere in the Bible where Jesus inflicted trials or suffering on anyone.
- God allowed this sickness because it will bring him glory.
I know this one sounds right but let’s look at it closely. People use John 11:4 to back up this idea but when did God get the glory? He got it with the miraculous raising. God gets glory when sickness and death are destroyed, not by their presence. Sickness is just here on this earth and sometimes it gets on you. This is no mystery. I know it because cancer got on me. God received glory when I joined with him and stood up against it; when I resisted it in his name. God was glorified in my miraculous recovery. The world is not impressed with how well we endure our suffering; they see enough of that. They are impressed by our overcoming and winning over all that comes against us. They are impressed when they see the goodness of God in our lives.
- Everything that happens is God’s will.
I think the enemy really loves this one because he can get you to submissively stand there and accept every circumstance that comes your way. As with sickness, you will not stand up and resist the tactics of the enemy. This is the area where people get angry with God because they think the bad thing that happened was a part of his plan and purpose. No matter how devout anyone claims to be I cannot see how they can accept the idea that God would hurt them for a reason. I know for a fact that most often there will be a seed of bitterness. It was not part of God’s plan for me to be divorced and to get cancer and I do not blame him for it. I caused a lot of my own problems and sometimes things just happen because we are in a fallen world with a lot of imperfect, fallen people that make bad choices.
It is our job to pray and bring his will to this earth. In his love, God had provided us with a book full of promises and His perfect will that we can pray over ourselves and our loved ones. Do we?
- You never know what God is going to do.
This thought process baffles me. It makes God sound erratic or undependable. God does not have a split or unstable personality. No one, not even the stout religious, would intend such a thing on purpose but really, that is what they are saying. God gave us his word so we would know his character and his will. Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Malachi 3:6 says I am the Lord, I do not change. When situations arise and I want to know where God stands on it, I go to his word. This way, I will know what he wants to do and I can stand in agreement with him.
The other way of thinking may sound holy and submissive but It is not. In reality, I am more inclined to think it is passing the buck. It takes the responsibility off us to dig into God’s word and make the necessary changes to be in agreement with him. I stand as a living testimony that you can know what God is going to do and it is such a joy to be in partnership with him.