GOD IS NOT!
Every dysfunction begins with a distortion about who God is. That’s why, in addition to knowing who he is, it’s important to understand who he isn’t. Most believers realize that God is holy, sovereign, righteous, pure, majestic, powerful, sufficient, wonderful, and a lot of other adjectives we’re pretty familiar with. And we could spend years exploring those attributes and barely scratch the surface. But to set a foundation for our understanding of what God is like, we also have to know what he isn’t like. We have to undo those distortions about who he is. One of the dysfunctions that I see in so many lives and again and again in my own heart is the dysfunction of anxiety. Maybe you have no fears. Maybe you’re one of those rare people who doesn’t worry about your finances because you know God is your source, or about your relationships because you know God is your Father. But most of us get anxious about these kinds of things, and that says a lot about what we truly believe about God. Anxiety is not only a dysfunction; it’s a sin. We may hear more about the sins of lust, greed, bitterness, or anger, but when our hearts are anxious, we reveal a belief that God is not really in control of our lives. When circumstances take a turn for the worse or even when we think they might we freak out and act like God took a nap or went on a lunch break. That’s an offense toward him or, in other words, a sin. And that’s why we need an accurate understanding of who he is. The Bible gives us clear instructions: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6 – 7). Those words offer a lot of encouragement, but the passage begins with a command: thou shall not be anxious. The only way we can do that is by knowing who God is and who he isn’t. Of course, there are many things God is not. He is not angry with us. He is not distant. He is not capricious or unfair. But when it comes to overcoming our anxiety, it would be helpful if we realized that God is not incapable. When we live our lives in a state of panic and anxiety, we infer that God is unable to help us.
When Unmet Needs Meet God
Typically, anxiety is a result of an unmet need in our hearts. One of the great characters from the Old Testament knew something about an unmet need and through it came to grips with who God really is. Abraham is the progenitor of our faith. He was an average guy living in Ur (where Iraq is today) when God found him and promised to make a great nation through him. His name was Abram at the time, and things were going well for him except that he had no heir to carry on his legacy. God had already given him great wealth and helped him win many victories over his enemies. Still, Abram couldn’t have a child, and without a child, he had no heir. According to the custom of the day, if you didn’t have a son, the main servant of the household would receive the inheritance and carry on the family’s legacy. That didn’t seem to fit the promise of someone who would one day be a father of nations. Abram needed a son, and it didn’t look like that would ever happen. Knowing how something like this could cause him to worry, God appeared to Abram and encouraged him: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward” (Gen. 15:1). That should have been a comforting thing to hear from the God who made heaven and earth. “I am your defense and your offense,” God was essentially saying. “I’m going to protect you and provide for you. It’s already taken care of, so just go about your business and trust me.” Abram wasn’t so sure: “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? . . . You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir” (vv. 2 – 3). Just as we do so many times, Abram felt it necessary to explain his situation to God. As if God didn’t already know. He was anxious because he did not trust God. In this short response, he demonstrates his view of God as incapable of fulfilling his own promise. What can the God who made him give to him? The question is almost an accusation that God is untrustworthy, that there are some things he just can’t do. How do you call God sovereign and then start by questioning what he can do? We do it all the time. At least Abram had some reason to be incredulous. He and his wife were old and wrinkled, yet God was talking about giving him a son. Look at the kinds of things that make us anxious:
• Am I going to be able to pay all my bills this month?
• Will I get that promotion?
• I sure hope it doesn’t rain during our vacation.
• Can we afford to send her to private school?
We get anxious even about things that are logically possible, so we can’t really point fingers at Abram. He had been promised something that was logically impossible. But God is the God of impossibilities. Creating the universe from nothing was pretty big — the rest is child’s play for God. Yet we pray with such little faith and little expectation because we just aren’t sure he can get the job done. Once when I was trying to illustrate the way we Christians let anxiety weigh us down, I asked a kid to come up on the platform and get on my back, and for the next few minutes as I preached, I carried him around until he got so heavy I had to lower him back to the platform. I wanted our people to have a visual reminder of what anxiety looks like — a burden that we don’t really need to carry. I chose to carry that child on my back. I didn’t have to. He was perfectly content to stay in his seat (well, at least as content as any kid could be listening to a sermon). For the few minutes he was on my back, the weight impeded my ability to walk freely. God invites us to get rid of that burden of worry and reassures us that he’s strong enough to carry it for us. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). His care is complete and thorough.
The Spiritual Stuff
None of us, of course, would actually admit that we think God is incapable, that there are some things he just can’t do. We have learned all the right words to describe his competence: he’s got the whole world in his hands; he’s always in control; he’s on the throne; he can do anything; he alone is the sovereign God. So the issue isn’t necessarily that we believe God is incapable. The real issue is that we believe certain areas of our lives are outside the realm of his expertise. He’s good at the spiritual stuff, but when it comes to our practical needs — or even our more personal ones — well, we aren’t so sure. Even after believing God and having his faith credited to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6), Abram seemed to wonder if God still needed some help. He got tired of waiting for the promised son to come. He had seen God move in plenty of other areas of his life, but he had trouble believing and waiting for the promised son. Maybe childbearing just wasn’t God’s specialty after all. So when Abram’s wife suggested that he sleep with her maid, Hagar, he said, “Yes, dear.” The son that resulted from that union caused nothing but pain and trouble. Whenever we try to help God out — whenever we go outside his boundaries to get what we need — it brings nothing but chaos, controversy, and conflict to our lives. When we assume there’s an area of our lives outside the realm of God’s expertise, we invite disaster. I once was having a conversation with a businessman who was being tempted to compromise his integrity to make a dollar. I think he wanted me to sort of bless his intention to cut some ethical corners, but I couldn’t. I told him I thought he should do what was honest and right and that God would honor him for that. Like a lot of people in the business world, he thought a preacher like me couldn’t understand how things are in the real world. “Preacher,” he said, “that might work in the ministry, but this is business we’re talking about.” Really? Integrity might work in the ministry, but there’s a different set of rules for other areas of life? That would mean that even though God is competent with spiritual things like saving souls, we’re on our own when we go to work; we have to work things out for ourselves in the “secular” world, or to “sleep with Hagar” to get what we really need. But God doesn’t work like that. He can create a profit in our businesses on his own terms, even if his terms don’t make “good business sense.” He can handle relationships and children and much, much more. He’s capable in every area of life. He even knows where to fish. Do you remember the story from the gospel of Luke about the time the disciples had been fishing all night yet had caught nothing? With more than a hint of sarcasm, Jesus came up to them and said,
“Hey guys, have you caught anything?” He knew they hadn’t, but I think he was just having some fun with his omniscience. When they acknowledged what he already knew, he told them to move to another location and try again. Peter was a professional fisherman and may have wondered if Jesus really understood how things work in the real world. This was a commercial fishing boat. These guys weren’t fishing just for the fun of it. This was their livelihood, and they had been doing it all their lives. So when this religious guy shows up and tells them where to fish, they probably rolled their eyes at each other and maybe even thought of just ignoring him. But Peter complied, and the Bible says they caught so many fish that the nets started breaking and they couldn’t figure out how to get them all in the boat. Peter could have said, “You do the religious teaching and leave the fishing to us. You focus on the church thing, and we’ll do business in the real world.” That’s how a lot of us approach God. But Peter, in spite of his reluctance, knew Jesus was Lord over every area of life. And Jesus showed him clearly how capable God is. I’ve known a lot of people who are pretty good at trusting God for spiritual things but can’t trust him for relationships. When it comes to whom you should date or decisions you make about marriage, a lot of people think you have to “sleep with Hagar” because God’s only the soul doctor, not the love doctor. But God was the first matchmaker. He set Adam up on a blind date — really blind, since he put Adam to sleep while he made Eve — and the results were wildly successful. God still has the ability to orchestrate the affairs of every area of your life. What a lot of us haven’t comprehended is that God cares about every area of our lives and is capable of meeting our physical needs just as easily as he meets our spiritual needs. There’s no area outside the realm of his expertise, and there’s no distinction between “spiritual” and everything else. You don’t have a spiritual life; you are a spiritual life. You are a spirit living in a body, both of which God created, and everything he says to you is helpful for your instruction. If he isn’t capable of seeing you through your relationships or of providing for you in your finances, if he’s not worthy of your trust in every area of your life, no matter how insignificant, how can you trust him with your eternity and the salvation of your soul? If God is capable with the biggest issues of life, he’s capable with all of them
Nothing’s Too Big
My son Grant came to me a many years ago when I was working out or “extra-sizing,” as he calls it and told me he wanted his. It’s huge, much too big for him to carry, and he was begging me to get it for him. But I was too busy and kept telling him I couldn’t do it then. Finally, he said, “Daddy, I really need my pirate ship. Do you think you’re strong enough to do that for me?” Now that’s a smart kid; he knew how to appeal to my pride, the one motivating factor that could get me to respond to him. But his question reminds me of the way a lot of us approach God when we have a big problem on our hands. We know it’s too big for us, but we also act as if it’s too big for God. Why worry and try to do all the heavy lifting by yourself when you have this kind of God on your side:
“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome” (Deut. 10:17).
“Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle” (Ps. 24:8).
“Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name” (Jer. 50:34).
“The God we serve is able to save us” (Dan. 3:17).
“The arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear” (Isa. 59:1).
When we align our view of God with the way he is described in the Bible, we realize that there is nothing God cannot do. Abram eventually got what he wanted, but his lack of trust caused him great anxiety, just as it does for all of us. I sometimes wonder why some people bother to pray if they don’t really think God is capable or interested in answering them. Eventually, Abram came to understand that God is trustworthy, and that gave him the confidence he needed to become one of the great patriarchs of our faith. God didn’t beat Abram down for his doubts. He assured Abram that a son from his own body would be born and become his heir. He raised Abram’s vision: “Look up at the heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them. . . . So shall your offspring be” (Gen. 15:5). And Abram believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
As I write this, our nation is in the midst of tremendous economic upheaval. Millions of breadwinners are out of work. People who have lived in their homes for twenty years and more are facing foreclosure. Our sons and daughters are fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the rise of terrorism threatens at home and abroad. I know these are all complex issues, but I often wonder what would happen if we truly believed God is capable of fixing banks and businesses. What would our world look like if Christians everywhere would unite behind this benediction that the apostle Paul gave to the church at Ephesus: “God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask.”
Robert F Collins DipTheo, BTh/BMin, MDiv
