今天我們要繼續來思考前面探討過的問題，那就是：我們需要按神的本性來看神，而不是按我們的喜好。在一次電台訪問中，主持人問我：「在你擔任牧者和心理輔導師的這麼多年以來，你在基督徒生命中看到的最大問題是甚麼？是甚麼原因導致這個問題的產生？」我毫不猶疑地回答：「問題就是，我們會因為神沒有按照我們的意思做某些事情，或者是沒有供應我們的祈求，而對神感到失望。原因是我們對神和神的處事方式存在相當錯誤的理解。」

很多基督徒經常生活在壓抑的失望和憤怒底下，因為他們在某些方面沒有看到神垂聽他們所想要得到的祈求。我曾經聽過有人說：「我祈求神給我忍耐，但祂反倒容許壓力增加。」或者是：「我要求神除去我對太太和兒女的憤怒，但祂並沒有回應我的禱告。」有人說時間是了不起的醫生，它能讓很多基督徒從他們對神的負面感受裡恢復過來。實際上他們往往沒有得到真正的醫治，只不過是將那些情緒掩蓋起來，當危機出現而神沒有如他們所預期的行動時，那些被掩蓋的感受便再浮現出來，問題又重新開始。

我們越快學會按神的本性接受神，而不是以我們自己的喜好來塑造神的形象，就能夠越快地從混亂的路徑走上信心的坦途。我可以告訴你，這是極其重要的事情。

「要學會按神自己的本性接受神」

進深研究
詩二十二1-5；羅五5

1. 大衛怎麼樣形容他的列祖？
2. 結果如何？

祈禱
天父，當您好像沒有以我所希望的方式行動，或做我想您為我做的事情時，我心裡滿是掙扎。求您幫助我更認識您，好讓我的期望是建立在真理、而不是在自己的意願上。奉主耶穌的名祈求。阿們。

The Vision of God

Day 22

Our biggest single problem

"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (v.9)

Bible reading:
John 14:1-14

1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me.

2 My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

4 You know the way to the place where I am going." Jesus the Way to the Father

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Message

We continue with the thought that we have to see God as He is, not as we would like Him to be. In a radio interview I was asked this question: "Over the years in which you have been a minister and counsellor, what has been the biggest single problem you have come across in the lives of fellow Christians? And what is the cause of that biggest single problem?" Unhesitatingly I replied: "Disappointment with God because of something He did not do, or something He did not provide. The cause - a wrong understanding of God and His ways."

Multitudes of Christians go through life with suppressed disappointment and anger because at some point in their experience God did not come through for them in the way they thought He should. I have heard people say: "I asked God to give me patience and instead He allowed the pressures to increase." "I asked God to take away my anger toward my wife and children, but He failed to answer my prayer." Time, it is said, is a wonderful healer, and many Christians recover from these negative feelings about God. But so often there is no real healing, just a covering over of the emotions. Then when some crisis hits and God does not come up to expectations the submerged feelings break the surface and the problem begins all over again.

The sooner we learn to accept God as He is, and do not imagine Him as we would like Him to be, the sooner we will move from the path of confusion to confidence. I tell you, this is a matter of supreme importance.

"Learning to accept God as He is"

Prayer
O Father, I confess that I struggle when You don't seem to move in the way I want You to or do the things I want You to do. Help me know You better so that my expectations are based on truth, not on wishful thinking In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Further study
Psalm 22:1-5
Romans 5:5

1. What did David say about his fathers?
2. What was the result?

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