WHAT GOD?

Sunday’s Monday

This thought came to me a week or so ago and I have been pondering on it since. The thought is, we’re constantly asking God the wrong question when we get into situations of pain and anguish. For many, the first thing out of the mouth from the heart is, “why God?” Or as the old song goes “why me Lord” and the why is immaterial as the situation has already arrived. The thought that I had was “what God”, what am I to learn here, “what” would you have me do, or “what” are you showing me in this? The why question, is one of diversion to deflect any blame or the question leading to the answer we think God wants to hear. This is simply another area where we need to examine our motives before making matters worse. I feel like this is covered in James 4:3 (NLT), And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong, you want only what will give you pleasure. We just want the pain to stop, the anguish to cease, and peace to return.

Don’t get misled here, and start playing on the words why and what, because there is a serious difference that could have life-changing results. The dictionary describes “why” as, a question concerning the cause or reason for which something is done, and “what” as, used interrogatively as a request for specific information. Therefore, “why” is a question requiring little thought because it speaks of something that’s happened, you know this is why don’t do it again. Whereas “what” is a request that seeks the “now” approach, such as now this has happened, what should be done to correct it? A life-changing concept in my life is merely knowing why (after the fact) still left me with an unsolved situation. However, I’ve found over the years that I learn so much more through the instructions of correction than from the information in prevention. Because the unforeseen is certain to pop up and one must have instructions on how to deal with it. Read James 4:5 (NLT), Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. Which is a question that seriously needs to be answered individually and honestly!

Truth is, we all suffer from those painful whys and yet continue to face them each day simply because we haven’t learned to ask what instead of why. Say you ask me to do something, like put those books back on the shelf and I take straight off and do it only to find out, you wanted them in a particular order. So, you ask why, didn’t you tell me? On the other hand, same task but instead of taking off, I ask what do you have in mind for the books? Alphabetical, size, or just on the shelf. You instruct me and the why has been eliminated. I said all that to say this; God is the supreme instructor, and He gives us tasks every day of which we completely ignore, put off till later, do halfheartedly, and cry out to Him why God when things go wrong. We often think we are so righteous that we can fill God’s request without His complete instruction. If you’re not, thanking God each day for His fortitude in teaching us, you need to start and if you are, you need to step it up a notch. Look at James 4:6 (NLT), And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Remembering the old TV Series “Father Knows Best”, We must become humble and realize we need Father God’s instruction in what He would have us do.

I don’t believe one can put too much emphasis on, never start a task without the proper instruction. Not sure where I got this from, a great student first has to believe in the teacher and have faith in their instruction, then one has to achieve confidence in their understanding of said instructions to the point of trusting the teacher has prepared them well, to complete said task. Follow the instruction in James 4:7-8 (NLT), 7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty, is divided between God and the world. A joyous heart continually consists of less of me and more of God in my life and the only way that can happen is for me to ask, WHAT GOD? What are we going to get into today? It is so exciting not knowing what will happen but knowing God is there to instruct me when it does!

Lord: I pray this registers to the readers, I pray we learn that we don’t have to have those Why God moments. I ask you Father to open our eyes to see how asking What God could change the outcomes of many situations and certainly improve our attitude when these situations arise. Have us to live within the writings of James 4:7 (NLT), So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Amen

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK BY BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS!

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