I wonder if a lot of people who call themselves “Christians” are really people who, at the end of the day, dare I say, are just lazy. Harsh? Think about it. They do stupid, self-destructive stuff, and think prayer to God will get them out of the fix they acted their way into?
They’re not looking for a life with a relationship, a challenge, or an adventure. They’re looking for a God who will do all of their living for them. When they make stupid choices they just say, “God, fix me.” When they live an unbridled, undisciplined life, they just pray, “God, fix me.”
It is not God’s job to fix you. Here is God’s job: to keep His promises. What are they? Well, Jesus said it simply this way, “Come that you might have life and have it to the full.” Or the one I like best, “more abundantly.”
So, God has given us life, a body, a mind, a heart, a soul, intelligence, creativity (because we’re created in His image) and He says, “Go out and use them. I’ll be there with you. I’ll go through the valleys as well as the hills. But you go out and live your life. Make the mistakes. Fall down. And when you can’t get up on your own, I’ll help you up. But I’m not going to keep you from the stress, the strain, and the pressure of life because that is really indeed what makes you alive.”
If you are a person looking for faith and you’re looking for a God that practices magic in the Christian God, you can keep on looking, because He’s simply not into it. He’s into redeeming, restoring, and reconciling. Each one of these issues is a big, epic idea. It takes a lifetime to live out. It’s hard, it’s difficult, but it certainly is worth it.
If you’re looking for a God to love you, help you, bless you; redeem, restore, and reconcile your life, good news! His name is Jesus. If you’re looking for a God to fix you and to follow you around with a little pooper-scooper every time you make a mistake, then you’re out of luck.