Know God’s Heart

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
 









If one more thing of mine breaks, it's just gonna have to stay that way. I'm plumb broke because of fixing broken things. I couldn't even list all the expensive things that have broken around me this year without boring you, so I won't.
And while I'm frustrated, especially about the master bathroom sink that broke last night rendering me to use my kid's bathroom, I'm not completely thrown off track.  A few years ago I would have been. A few years ago, I would have been questioning God's goodness. I would have been vacillating between being mad at God and feelings of shame.
Because I equated God's goodness with good circumstances I was an easy target for the enemy's lies when things went wrong. 
Thoughts paraded through my mind like "Maybe this is not the way you are supposed to go? Look at how hard things are. Maybe you heard God wrong?" Or his favorite, some version of, "Well you must have done something wrong because that didn't go well." As if I could be good enough to make everything around me good. As if I am the savior of the broken world.
The problem I had was I was mixing a worldly, American dream-type worldview with my faith. Comfort and ease equaled good, and hard, painful, or broken equaled bad. But this is not a Biblical worldview at all. The Bible tells us we will have trouble. The Bible even shows us that the way of the suffering servant is the way we should follow. But it is so counter-cultural.
So counter-cultural in fact that I think we need to spend a minute reflecting on a few verses of what God defines as good.
These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory, and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 1:7
Peter is writing here to people who are going through the kind of trials I have never known. They are being persecuted for their faith, and yet he encourages that these trials will prove their faith, which is far more precious than gold.
God is far more interested in a faith that can withstand many things, than our comfort and ease. This makes sense too. A good parent teaches their kids how to thrive in the reality of the world they live in, not making everything comfortable for them. The reality we live between the first and second coming of Christ is still living in the broken world as we trust Jesus that He has overcome the world. Plus, we have an enemy who wants us to fail and still has some dominion here. But we also have a good Father who is teaching us to thrive.
And now for one of the most popular scriptures to take out of context, which only furthers the cultural beliefs of good. To not do this, we are going to do something different. We are going to read the two versus together because they actually cannot be split apart and be understood.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.   For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  Romans 8:28-29.
You see, Paul is telling the Romans that God's ultimate good purpose is to make us like Christ. In His doing this, He works all things together for this purpose. In other words, He uses the trouble that comes our way to help us become like Christ. Plus, he is saying that our lives should look like Christ's -- the suffering servant. Trouble came His way in every form, even to the point of death on a cross. But God brought the ultimate good out of what seemed the most terrible thing that could have happened. God has defined goodness as us becoming more like His Son, because the Son is the accurate reflection of Him and God is good.
The message version does a great job of making Paul's meaning clear.
God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. Romans 8:28-29 MSG
But this is going to take more than one readjustment. God has spent many years untangling these opposing views in my mind, by helping me get to know Him through His word. And I am still very much a work in progress here.
It started from some wise words of one of my coworkers. I don't recall her exact words but the jist was if your faith believes in God's goodness through circumstances then your faith is not in the person of God, but in circumstances. This means your faith will always be shifting since the circumstances will shift. In order to build strong faith, you need to build your faith in His character. He's the only unchanging, unshifting rock to build on.
That was a day of reckoning for me.
From then forward, I decided I would read the Word every day to know God more. Who is He really? What does this passage say about His heart, remembering that the heart means someone's mind, will, and emotions? So I also need to see His will or His ways. How does He work in the world, and how does that translate into Him working in my life? I would write down what I saw, and worship Him for it because what I found was amazing. Truly, He is the good God who works all things out for the greatest good, us becoming like Christ. But He often does this through our trouble. He doesn't cause the trouble, and it's not His punishment for us, but He does use the trouble to refine our faith - the thing that is far more precious than gold.
Live it out: 








Pick a book of the Bible and start reading it section by section. Most Bibles have subheads in the chapters. These are good markers to read passages that go together. While you are reading, and after you are finished contemplate the below questions.
What does this tell me about God's character?
What does this passage show me about God's heart (mind, will, and emotions)?
What does it show me about the way He works in the world and in the life of His people?
Listen to what the Apostle Paul prayers over the people at the churches: I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. Ephesians 1:17-18. Let's make this our prayer for ourselves and each other, and like Paul, let's keep on asking! 
Let's Pray: 

Father,
You made this world and called it good. You made all of us and called us very good. You are the one and only who gets to define what is good. Help me to align my beliefs about good with your definition of good. Give me wisdom and revelation about who you are and how you work, so that I may know you better. You are the source of wisdom. Enlighten the eyes of my heart that I may know you, your heart, and the way you work through your Word. I want to know you and live your way. In Jesus's name. Amen.



















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