Slide Over God. I've Got This.

In recent writings, I’ve repeatedly made the case that the root of all sin is our pervasive determinations of good and evil apart or independent from God’s input. That’s easily understood when one compares thoughts and behaviors to what God’s Word says about adultery, lying, lust, greed, theft, or the like.

When we know what God’s Word says and choose anything that contradicts what we know he wants, we’re suggesting, either explicitly or implicitly, that our determination of right and wrong is greater or better than God’s. We may offer endless justification for choosing to define right and wrong apart from God’s input, but ultimately, we are nudging him out of the lordship of our lives.

But what about the more subtle ways that we may position ourselves as equals or greater than God without realizing it?

Faith is first and foremost about trusting God. I’ve often taught that the more time you spend communicating with someone who is trustworthy the more likely you are to trust him. Those of us steeped in church teachings know that we communicate with God through prayer, and may assume that the more we pray, the more we’ll trust God.

But if we go a bit deeper, we realize that how we communicate with someone trustworthy affects how much we trust him. Open conversations with someone trustworthy produce and encourage trust. Closed conversations, when you presume a position of power or authority within the conversation, may or may not elicit submission or agreement, but they will not encourage you to trust the one over whom you have authority.

At some point, most of us have presumed a personal position of power while speaking with God.

How?

Have you ever prayed, “Lord, if you will _____________________, then I will _______________”?

When we address anyone with an “If you… then I…” statement making our commitment conditional or contingent on his action, we’ve assumed we have the upper hand. He must earn our response before we will act. When we do so with the King of Kings, we’re essentially approaching the throne and saying,

“Slide over God.

I’ve got this.

Let me tell you what you need to do and how this will go if you do.”

Right after building an altar and naming a place after God, (because we tend to exert our authority over others after we’ve done something for them) Jacob tried that…

“Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.’” Genesis 28:20-22

God had already promised everything Jacob required in these verses to make the Lord his God. Though Jacob is essentially declaring “I’ll trust and honor you when I see it.” Jacob is giving God an ultimatum.

Later, the writer of Hebrews addresses this directly –

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

It was thirty years before Jacob returned to that place and acknowledged what God had done for him. Perhaps the most generous and loving aspect of God is that he keeps his promises regardless of our behaviors or the paths we choose. He promises that if we trust that Jesus came, died, and was resurrected to atone for our sins, he will never remove that forgiveness. We’ll still be undeserving sinners whether by conscious choice or flawed perspectives, but that our sin, all our sin, will be atoned for through his son.

So, if you find yourself giving God ultimatums or making conditional commitments to him, you may want to pause your prayer, swallow your pride, change chairs, and trust him to take his rightful place on the throne.