A Reactionary God?

How do you view God? Not your intellectual theology about God, but how do you really think and act towards Him? Most of us have an active theology that fits more in line with a reactionary god than the Lord of Hosts and the King of Kings. We tend to think of God sitting and waiting for us to either do something wrong, so he can punish us. Or he's waiting for us to do something right so he can bless us. Its not that God doesn't punish sin or doesn't bless obedience, but there is so much more going on that no person can fully comprehend it all. Think on that for a little bit and see if your life truly fits in with this paradigm or not. Its a hard notion to shake. I think its because in many ways that is how we live ourselves, reacting to our situations.

Life is tough for most of us. Work is hard and relationships can often be even harder. There is so much going on all at once that we hardly ever have any time to do anything proactive. We're stuck in survival mode and when we're surviving all we do is base our decisions on our circumstances. We base our actions on what our felt needs are.

Another reason we tend to think of God this way is because he tends to make us wait. God's timing is never in line with our timing and as such we find ourselves waiting for direction, or provision, or any number of things we're expecting from God. Or he moves things at a pace much faster than we're comfortable with. Its rarely, if ever on track with what we'd like.

Okay, so why then do I not think God is a reactionary God? Because of what he calls us to be and who I've seen Him be in my life as well as in the Bible. I see God taking initiative all over the scriptures. He gets Moses attention to send him to be His representative before Pharaoh. He sent Jesus to die for us and be raised again. Jesus started the conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. God anticipates our needs and deals with them, sometimes before we're even aware of the need. But many of the times He'll make us wait. He builds our patience and character through the trying times between our felt need and His provision.

So if God is a proactive God, and we are made in His image, then should we not also be proactive? We should not simply wait for direction, but act on what we know now. Don't worry, if you start to head the wrong direction God will correct you if you are His child. But I know in my life I've learned more about God's will through taking action on what I already know than waiting for the whole plan to be laid out for me. That's all I can do, live day by day seeking His will. There are many things, in fact most things, that I do not yet know, but I know a little and its enough to do something with. So I encourage you to stop thinking about doing something, and do something.

For His Glorious Name,
Jason