Disappointing God

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

Genesis 6: 5,6

This are pre-flood verses, right before the Bible states that the only righteous humans left are Noah and his family. 

Have you ever thought about the implications of these verses?  God was sorry that he had ever made humans.  Adam and Eve had betrayed him, and now, every other man was following in their footsteps.  They were sinning, and the only thoughts that they had were to keep sinning and thinking evilly.  Satan had his hooks in, and it caused the Lord to have to destroy the world and all the humans except Noah and his family. 

I’m not going to recount the story of Noah and the ark at this time.  Most of us know it by now.  If not, you can read the rest of the story in Genesis.  What I am going to talk about is disappointing God.

God knows that we’re only human.  He understands that we’re flesh driven bodies, but it doesn’t mean that we have to disappoint God.  Sure, we screw up.  We always do, but when we sin and just keep sinning, how do you think that makes God feel? 

I, mean, we're turning our back on Him.  We're not listening to Him, and all He wants to do is help us.

I’m not sure that He’s sorry that he made all of us, and there are more than eight righteous people in the world right now.  However, could you imagine making God so upset that He regretted creating you? 

I want you to sit still for a moment.  Take in a deep breath and close your eyes.  While your eyes are closed, imagine tears from God falling down onto the earth.  And we’re the reason why. 

It’s heartbreaking, isn’t it?  My heart breaks to think of the reasons why God would cry over us.  And we’re the ones doing it.  We cause it.  We know right from wrong, yet we’re silly humans and do things that cause God to grieve. 

I urge us all today to work on making ourselves better.  We’re not perfect.  We’re to strive for perfection though, to follow in the footsteps of Christ. 

And that is what will keep God from being heartbroken, from regretting making humans. 

But, this is where God’s grace comes in.  Oh, He’s a loving God!  He forgives our sins and casts them “as far as the east is to west”!  He erases our mistakes and fills us with His love!  That is something to praise Him for!  No matter how disappointed He feels in us, He will always love us and will always forgive us.  No matter how much we mess up.  After all, He is our Father.  

Fear of Death

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about how fear can trap you.  But Friday, I embarked on a life journey - an experience I will never forget.  I flew in an airplane for the very first time.  It may not be very significant for others, but for me, it is huge!  I had always aid I'd never fly.  I'm scared of heights, and I get vertigo.  But, it was more than that, that bothered me about flying.  I feared dying.

Being afraid of dying has always been a terrible fear of mine.  Some nights, it was so bad that I didn't want to fall asleep because I was afraid I wouldn't wake up, or worse, my nieces would climb the stairs and find me dead. 

Satan had gotten a foothold in and wouldn't let me go.  I would lie in bed at night, crying myself to sleep, and praying that God would let me see another day. 

A preacher once said to our congregation, "Why should the devil threaten you with Heaven?"  Logically, I know that when I die, I'll be in Heaven, but at times, I fear death.  I want to live a long life, see my dreams through, have a family of my own.  I'm not ready to go to Heaven.

I feel guilty for that thought.  Is it wrong to feel that way?  I hope not, and I feel like God understands that I'm only human.  That I fear death and the unknown. 

And life after death is unknown.  I know I'm going to live with my Heavenly father, but what will that be like?  Will I know my family?  I don't want to forget them.  I can't even fathom that.  I don't want to understand what that would be like. 

The devil is good about using death against us.  But, God says that we shouldn't fear death.  Romans 8:14,15 NKJV says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 

God isn't the One who gave us the fear of Death or fear of any kind.  That is the work of the Devil.  So why should we allow the devil to threaten us with the best thing that could possibly ever happen to us?  

There are no tears and sorrow in Heaven.  If we did die and leave our families behind, God isn't going to let us be sad over it.  So, why on earth should we fear it now?  The simple answer is that we shouldn't.  God didn't give us a spirit of fear but of understanding.  We may not "understand" death and what is to come, but we shouldn't fear living with our Creator.  

I still struggle with this, but I'm getting better about it.  With God, I can do anything and survive anything.  

Who Directs Your Path?

We like to plan our future.  We like to plan ahead the day.  And when we make decisions, we want to make them according to our plans.  But what about the One who created us?  What does He want us to do?



Twice in the book of Proverbs does is say, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."  Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25

So, if that wasn't the case, why would he tell us twice?  We need to get it in our heads that one way is death, the other life.  The footnote in my study Bible sent me to Matthew 7:13,14.  This is the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus is distinguishing the line between destruction and life.  Which meant, if you didn't follow Him, you would be sent to destruction.  He emphasized that we needed to choose life, choose Him.

These verses in Proverbs are indicating that exact thing.  Solomon, in this case, was telling us that we, as man, will see things that seem right but will eventually lead man to death.  So, we need to be wise and choose the right path.

But choosing the right path isn't easy.  Even Jesus said it wouldn't be easy in Matthew 7:14, "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."

It is important to remember that although life is difficult and we want to take the easy way out, we can't.  We have to take the right path.  That is the most important fact.

So, how do we figure out this right path and avoid death and destruction?  We pray.  I know I've quoted these verses a lot, but it's so important that we learn it.

Proverbs 3:5,6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."

Acknowledge God and trust that He will take you where you need to go.  Like Jesus said, it won't be easy.  Life isn't easy, but God knows what He's doing.  We have to trust in Him. Trust that He knows our future, and He knows how it all ends.  He knows what is, and will, be best for us.

Proverbs 16:1 says, "The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."

Everyone is subject to God's will and way, no matter how much planning we, man, put into it.  Have you ever thought that life wasn't going like you wanted it to?  That nothing was going according to plan?  I have.  I've been there, many times!  I knew that God had a plan for me, but I didn't want to wait for it.  And, I wanted it to be what I wanted, not what God wanted.  I was wrong.  I was heading down the path of destruction.

One day, after praying about something that I thought was going in the wrong direction, God revealed to me something that I would have never had if I had gone down the path I wanted to go down.  I wouldn't have been able to freely worship God if I had gotten my way.

I thought about that, and immediately, I thanked God for stopping that path.  Because, I didn't want a life where I couldn't praise my King freely.  He gave me life.  He gave me everything.  Why should I NOT trust Him when He directs my path in a different way?  I didn't have an answer.  Because God has my answer.  He knows exactly what will happen and when it will happen and how it will happen.  That should be good enough for me.  That should be good enough for all of us.  It's just that we aren't taking the "me, me, me" out of GOD's plan for us.

"A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:7

Who directs your path?  You or the Lord?