God's Patients
Isaiah 55:6–11
Where is God when you need Him?
Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. - Isaiah 55:6–11
Isaiah says we should seek God while he may be found. Did we miss the opportunity? Or does it come around again?
Is God like a health worker who comes once a week or every other week to spend a few minutes with us and gauge our spiritual health?
Are we okay being left alone to our own devices for a while, or are we like patients in a hospital, ringing the buzzer repeatedly, wanting someone, anyone, to come?
Is Isaiah telling us to call out to God or to be patient and wait until God is near to bother him with our needs and wants?
What if it is the latter? What if God wants us to handle as much as we can on our own, and call on Him when He is truly needed?
I am reminded of the story of the boy who cried, "Wolf."
He didn't try to deal with his fear himself, but, instead, called out for help, again and again. What the story doesn't tell us is that when the townsfolk ran to his aid again and again, they were not helping others.
What if we think of God as a limited resource?
He is infinite, of course, but the whole of Creation is large and could demand a lot of attention. God designed us to be the go-to resource for his Creation on this planet and for God to be our go-to resource when we are overwhelmed.
If we spend all our time bothering God for every little thing we want or need, we will ignore our responsibilities, and God's Creation will begin to crumble.
He will not leave us alone, but we should respect His time as well.
Like the nurse who is covering an entire floor of patients, He cannot keep running back to Him, like the pesty neighbor in Jesus' parable who wants bread in the middle of the night.
Maybe we should try to tackle our problems on our own first, and then when we get in a real bind, with no where to turn, we call on God.
I am sure He will appreciate that.
More to come...