Blog

Observation

We so often want a god who is our genie god that delivers us from the ordeals of life and leads us into the ‘happy place’ where we will dwell forever. This is the god we create and desire, the problem is when we actually treat God this way. We demand that he be this god. When we do this we miss entirely that he is not the deliverer or rescuer from all of life’s ordeals, he is the ever-present co-journeyor through them. His rescue is that we are not alone as we journey, his rescue is that we can find amazing riches and beauty in the journeyand , his rescue is that we will always have the strength to be overcomers, and never be overcome by the journey. Rescue is not always from but often through. His deliverance is not ‘out of’ but ‘overcoming.’ When we face life’s ordeals we must be present to the presence of God to know his plans for this part of life’s journey. He is okay for us to yell out “get me out,” but he also wants us to be prepared for the beauty to be released as we stay the road of the ordeal with him.

When you demand the genie god of your desire you miss the presence of the beautiful God who is present with you, and the beauty of the journey. This is why God gets the blame so often, or we become disappointed with him, in the midst of life’s ordeals. We want our genie god, but really it is this god who has let us down, he always lets you down, for he is not real. Kill off the genie god!

God fully identifies with us, that’s why he became fully one of us. And as one who understands he becomes our helper on the journey. This was one of his purposed intents of incarnation, to become a fellow journeyer who gets the journey, and can help from personal experience, not theoretical understanding. “He suffered and endured every test and temptation so that he can help.” People who journey through hard times reject help from others and become alone, as they say, “but you don’t understand, you have not gone through what I am going through.” Well, our God’s help is not from walking in our shoes but wearing our flesh.

God’s deliverance and rescue are not always from its often through. He knows that beauty comes through brokenness travelled, brokenness healed. He knows the potential of beauty in my brokenness and wants to see the beauty formed in me. Deliverance and rescue that avoids the journey rob the beauty. Often our pain has us yell out for immediate rescue, but our lover knows the beauty released through travelled deliverance, and love walks alongside to see this realised.

Application

Know the presence and purposes of God in life’s ordeals. Don’t fall for the lure and deception of the genie god. Be prepared to journey through the brokenness of life with God so that the beauty of brokenness may be revealed in and through my life. Don’t look for, or welcome, hard times with pleasure, but when they arrive know that I am not alone, I am understood, and the one who gets me, holds me, loves and keeps me, is a fellow journeyer who is faithful for the road ahead.

Response

Thank you for your presence. If you were a god of distance, then you would be of no value in the journey of life’s ordeals. Thank you that you get me from wearing my flesh, and not simply from the distance of the creator of creatures. Thank you that your love is so deep for me that it brings you to incarnation so that you can be my help every time. How do we expect to do life without you when life can be so brutal, unfair, random, and harsh? I will not do that life, I don’t have what it takes. Thanks for journeying with me until beauty is formed in me. I love this life with you, even when the road has ordeals.

Meditation

Meditate – Jesus became human to fully identify with us.

Consider:
How much do you invest, and become disappointed with, the genie god?
How prepared are you for a fellow journeyer into the beauty of brokenness, as opposed to the immediacy of deliverance from ordeals?