For the past few days, I’ve been helping out at a fireworks tent. Half the profit will benefit Young Life. My wife is the director of Young Life here in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The weather this week has been fantastic. Lots of sun. Warm, but not too hot. Nice breezes. You really couldn’t ask for better weather. And yet being outdoors in the summertime does mean having to battle some of the most annoying creatures on earth. Flies.
I probably killed forty yesterday and I’ve already started on them this morning. As I killed one earlier, I thought about the fact that he (is it possible to tell? is there even a difference?) had no idea what hit him. One moment he was happily buzzing around the tent, then “whack!, he’s no more.
By the way, if you are an animal rights activist and object to killing flies, well, sorry.
Anyway, it got me thinking about how some of us tend to view God. We seem to live under this vague sense of uneasiness. Sometimes it’s worse than that and we actually live in fear. We think that God is “up there” watching us, just waiting for us to mess up, so He can give us a whack for stepping out of line.
When we sin or fail to read our Bible or pray as much as we think we should, we’re just waiting for God to let us have it. Or maybe things are going well. Life is good. We’re in a good season of life and problems are at a minimum. So we think it’s all just a little too good. Surely it won’t last. If we’re quiet for a moment, we’ll probably even hear the divine fly swatter swooshing toward us.
God’s not like that though. He’s not looking for you to mess up. He’s not holding your sins against you–waiting for that last straw, so He can finally give you the swat you deserve.
Everything changed at the cross. Jesus purchased your forgiveness with His blood. He made peace between you and God. He bought every blessing for you. If you need to be reminded of your true standing before God, read Ephesians 1.
Does God discipline us at times? Sure. Every loving father disciplines His children. But the purpose is to produce growth and character–it’s not to punish us for messing up.
Your heavenly Father loves you. Really. He loves you. He’s crazy about you. Just accept it and learn to walk in the joy and peace Jesus obtained for you.
The whack isn’t coming.