Sorry... “I” don’t do parking spaces.

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We live each day of our lives in the midst of profoundly amazing creation. A world created by a loving God. At the desire of his heart He said... "Let there be light!" and there it was. Fill the oceans with life... and they were filled. Land, sea and air creatures came into existance at His command. His crowning creation... “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Genesis 1:26

God also said... "I will send a flood," He did and the whole earth was flooded. He parted the Red Sea and knocked down the walls of Jericho. He sent His beloved Son to earth to live among us as a man... He empowered His miracles and resurrected Him from the dead. God is at work all the time, in all of His creation. He attends to detail. He is aware of everything, every action, every word, every hair on our head is known to Him. To God nothing is insignificant. We live in the constant shadow of a powerful God!

Even with all His power... don’t expect God to be hustling parking spaces for you at the local mall or grocery store so you can park closer to the entrance. I know, you’re probably wondering what does “parking spaces” have to do with an Omnipotent God.

Many people in the course of their daily activities actually pray to God to grant such things... parking spaces, good deals, no traffic, and all manner of self-soothing requests. A view common among Christians is this: if God is all-powerful, then He will surely assist me in my requests for such things. Does it not say... "All things work together for good to those who love God." (Romans 8:28 KJV) So we reason... “all things”.... “I love God”... therefore I can expect that everything will work out for good and God will be working overtime to make “me” happy.

A more accurate understanding of Paul’s message comes from the New International Version rendering of Romans 8: 28 (NIV)... "In all things, God works for good for those who love him." God’s promise is not that "all things work for good," but that in the midst of “all situations”, God is at work. Still, what about God’s attention to my needs and requests? The Bible teaches us that He is involved... attentive... responsive... so how is God working in my life?

Here’s the problem... Christians are susceptible to two mistaken viewpoints of God.... one... God is a puppet, able to be manipulated by humans to our our ends, and two...God is a puppeteer, constantly pulling the strings of humanity causing all sorts of situations and outcomes.

Those who see God as a puppet believe God can do anything, anything we tell him to do. This beieve is anchored by a strong belief in prayer, and puts all the power in the hands of the one praying. Scripture tells us to never stop praying. Pray for the coming of God’s kingdom, for daily needs, for spiritual maturity, for forgiveness, for deliverance from temptation, for our Christian brothers and sisters, for our enemies. Never are we to put ourselves in the position of demanding of God the exact nature of His answer. Those who see God as a puppet expect God to act at their whim, especially in the most prevelant of prayer requests... daily needs. “God... please, please, I need a parking space close to the entrance because I’m in a hurry.”

Humans cannot order God around. Think about it like this... whenever we pray for selfish things, God is treated like a puppet. We might not think our requests are selfish. We may even comfortably rationalize that our requests are aligned with God’s Word. But if our prayers become “request-response” oriented then we are thinking of God as our servant... expecting Him to grant our every wish and whim.

Then there’s the puppeteer God. This view of God can seriously undermind our relationship with Him. Many Christians see God as if He is a master puppeteer, pulling all the strings in every situation of our lives no matter how small or insignificant. This view of God suggests that every life event or experience is the result of the direct will of God. He made it happen. God brought the storm... the tornado... the tsunami... massive loss of life. He caused the cancer... the heart attack... the car crash... sudden death. You hear it expressed in these simple words... “it’s was God’s will.”

ALL things that happen to all of humanity, good or bad, are credited to the direct will of God. No event is too small, no desire of the heart too selfish... ALL are controlled and manipulated by God’s direct will. When you can’t explain it, or accept it for what it really is... then assign it to the will of God.

Believing God is a master puppeteer is surprisingly similar to personal human will. It’s a safe-haven, a comfortable position for many, because it frees you of responsibility for your own decisions and grants self-righteousness to those who seem to be blessed.... those who for the moment seem to be dodging the calamities of life.

Christians don’t come to this belief entirely on there own. They have lots of help... from pulpits around the world where Christians hear that God wants them to be healthy and wealthy and their experience of such conditions will show God’s work and blessing in their lives. The insensitivity and distortion that spews forth from so-called Christian preachers faning the “prosperity gospel” is foreign to both Scripture and life experience. So the question lingers....

If God is neither our servant puppet or a manipulating master puppeteer, then who is He and what is He doing in our lives?

First we need to accept a hard but core fact of our relationship with God... He never promised an easy life in which we always get our way. He never promised freedom from tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, disease, death, deception or rebellion. He only promised that in the midst of every situation, no matter how bad or how painful, God will be present, working for the good for those who love him. An even harder fact to accept.... the results of His work for us may not be seen or experienced in this world or in this life.

If God manipulated all things like a master puppeteer, we would have no free will, and those who are not already faithful would have no hope. If God acted in subservient response to our every wish, like a great puppet, our world would be subject to human macinations and not the perfect will and power of God.

God has chosen to exercise his power in ways that have eternal significance. God exerts his power within the boundaries of His divine nature. God’s love, forgiveness, incarnation, atonement, and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit are actions of his power that can change the attitudes of those who seek to know and comprehend His character and attributes.

Where is God when your life really stinks? He is not going to equip you with tools to take revenge on your enemy or embolden an attitude to seek retribution on that which causes you pain. In your most difficult moments, He is not running roughshod over you, nor is He doing stunts to show off his power. Rather, as the Holy Spirit He actively works inside you and in the lives of the people you love, providing the necessary resources to cope, endure, thrive, and achieve victory over that which causes you pain. He is there... helping you cope with unfair and difficult life situations. He seeks to shape your attitudes so you can accept things as they are and grow in Him.

When things are not going well in our lives... Christians will pray for relief. Relief doesn’t come. We get frustrated. God’s timing is rarely our preferred timing. God’s goal for each one of us is to make us more like Christ. He will always use our circumstances, especially those of pain and suffering, to draw us closer to that ultimate goal. If we can remember that when life experience is not pleasant, then we can be confident that the Omnipotent God will exercise his power to grant ultimate victory to those who remain faithful to Him.

By God’s powerful grace, He is constantly at work in us and for us. Never doubt it... trust Him.