Taking God For Granted
Copyright © 2007 Heaven Ministries

I read a wonderful little book the other day that made me reflect on my life and realize how much I truly need God. I have been studying God’s words for years, I teach and counsel others daily, and I read the bible three, four, sometimes five times a week, and lately I have not allowed God to work His will in my own life. How could I have allowed this to happen? I guess I have taken God for granted. 

About half way through the book it hit me hard - Bang! Like a freight train derailing off the tracks, screeching to a roaring stop. I had been ignoring God for my life because I knew He would always be there for me. It’s like living smack dab on the ocean with a view most people would die for. After ten or twenty years of waking up and your eyes seeing that magnificent coastline, it just doesn’t seem that spectacular anymore. It’s just the beach for those who live there, but for those who don’t, it’s a vacation! 

Maybe I was telling myself that my own understanding was good enough and that I didn’t need God anymore. I realized I had somehow allowed my life to be led by my own understanding. This can be dangerous over time because our own understanding is not the will of our Creator. The fact is, it doesn’t matter where we are at in our life as believers - the truth is we’ll always need God in our life, no matter what! 

Cherie Hill’s book, “Be Still” also took me back to my past to the time of when I first met God, and desperately needed Him for the storm that was going on in my life at that time. I was told I needed to give my addiction over to a higher power. I knew that God was the higher power that everyone was talking about, but it seemed really meaningless to me at the time. My faith too, was very negligent and I just thought it all to be a bunch of nonsense. 

Fortunately, even with the little bit of faith I had, I was able to give up my addiction for good. I gave it to God and He took it from me just like He said He would. This increased my faith tenfold, which helped me to grow and learn to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Here I am, fourteen years later, much wiser in the Lord, having greater faith than ever before, and yet, I have been taking God for granted. I have allowed myself to depend on my own understanding (faith) in certain areas of my life. This has always been a problem for me. I thought I had this thing conquered. I didn’t even realize this until I read Cherie’s book. 

We are powerless to calm our own storms in the right way. Sure, we can dampen the storms under our own understanding, but is that what God wants His children to do? It is all about having faith enough to let God deal with the trials and tribulations in our life. As Christian’s we never stop trusting, spiritually growing, or having faith in God for our life. We have been blessed with these gifts and applying these wonderful gifts into our life is the Christian’s way of life! So we need to remain always faithful and vigilant in our walk with Jesus Christ. 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and protector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1,2 NIV)