We humans must be made in God’s image. Otherwise, why would we think we can boss Him around? Our prayers often sound like a child’s letter to Santa, and we have that child’s patience as well.
It’s good for us that He is far more gracious, patient, and loving than we, otherwise He soon would tire of our petulance. And thankfully, we have the Bible’s record of His patient dealings with a whiny humanity.
There are numerous questionings of God by prophets Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk, but we can understand those questions in the delivery of a difficult message to a recalcitrant people. And we certainly can understand the turmoil of Job, who, through no fault of his own, finds himself in the crossfire between God and Satan.
But what of Jonah, who hates the Assyrians so much that he at first refuses to preach to them, and even then argues against God’s grace? Or Elijah, who brazenly claims that he is left as the sole faithful one?
All these pave the way for Jesus’ disciples, who say things like. . .
“Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Mark 4:38
“Never, Lord, this shall never happen to you!” Matthew 16:22
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:32
“No, Lord, you shall never wash my feet!” John 13:8
Can these people hear themselves?
And, my personal favorite. . .
“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” Luke 10:40
We can almost see Martha’s fiery face and hear her stomp her foot.
Rather than criticize these believers, maybe it’s better if we remember them and their insolence when. . .
We wait for years with no answer to a prayer.
We are wanting God to keep a promise or make something happen.
We are feeling insecure and doubting His goodness.
We are thinking how much better the world would be if we ran it.
Many times my own heart is comforted when I hear myself pray or think something that sounds like what they said, something that implies that God is anything less than on time or good. These fellow travelers from Scripture remind us that not only is He in control, but that He is gracious to impetuous sinners like me. Like you.
“As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he remembers how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.”
Psalm 103:13, 14