Living as if God is not always powerful and good to me is sin.
Living as if I love that power and goodness more than God is idolatry.
How do we learn to live in a way that balances these two truths?
Too little emphasis on God’s power and goodness exposes us to a great temptation to take care of ourselves, thereby dethroning Jesus as Lord in our life. Failing to trust that God is taking good care of us, we believe we must take over the job.
Conversely, too much emphasis on God’s power and goodness exposes us to a great temptation to make prayer a means to enthrone ourselves as lord. We, then, decide what is good for us and when we should have it, and we “demand” it of God, through prayer. We begin to pursue pleasure, power, security, and the miraculous power of God as an end to themselves, controlled by our judgement of what is best for us and demanded on our schedule through prayer.
Some points to keep in mind as we consider how to balance these two truths:
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God gives good gifts. (Matthew 7:11-12)
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To please Him we must believe that God rewards us. (Hebrews 11:6)
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We must trust God, not self, to direct our lives well. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
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Don’t pursue life’s basic needs, nor pursue Jesus for the miraculous provision of your daily bread, pursue Jesus as the bread of life, and seek his kingdom first, and he will provide. (Matthew 7:24-34, John 6)
What things are most likely to throw you off balance?
How might life improve if you consistently maintained this balance?