I remember standing on the deck of a beautiful home in Tahoe for a home group gathering. The leader responded to my compliment about the view, his home, and yard with, “Where God guides, he provides.”
It’s so, so true. God directs us. He opens and closes doors. All good things come down from the Father of Lights. He is the way-maker.
But this was during the time my husband was physically injured. We were losing our barely affordable rental to a thriving real estate “seller’s market,” and we didn’t know where we would be moving. I was unskilled—waiting tables at more than one restaurant—while my husband tried to stand upright again. It was just months after I’d weaned our third baby.
So my whispered reply was, “I wish God would guide me.”
God’s Favor
Casually spoken Christian terms and quotes alienate people more than they glorify God.
There are certain privileges you owe to the structures of this world. Such as, you were born in a country where citizens learn to read. Even though God loved Jacob and hated Esau before they were born it isn’t God’s favor over you that prevented you from being born into disease, famine, prison, or a refugee camp—and someone else into it.
The idea of God’s favor reeks of prosperity doctrine—but I especially dislike it because I hear it when people just want to describe how God approved and enabled their plans.
As lovers of God, we want to do great things for him. So we make plans. And if he aligns the stars and decimals—we tell everyone that we have his “favor.”
Many are the plans of man, but the Lord directs his steps.
And sometimes, he laughs at, scoffs, or taunts the world’s plans. Yeah, possibly even your plans and mine. He rejected Uzzah’s. (A man who likely had good intentions of not letting the Arc of the Covenant fall to the ground…but who wasn’t a priest and therefore was prohibited from touching it.)
It isn’t God’s favor in the form of your success, which proves your sonship, or your citizenship in heaven. Sometimes if things look fantastic for you in this world—it’s just because you are operating well as a part of this world. Or you had a leg up.
Things are just going to be easier if you are born into a society with public services, the ability to own private land, and within an infrastructure for (some) free education. If you are born to an intact family and money, you will have many more options and opportunities than others… and a softer place to land if the stars and decimals don’t align.
Reserve, there are two different kingdoms operating simultaneously—and some principles will help you in both. If you do not cheat on your spouse, they are less likely to leave you (for infidelity, at least.) If you show up on time and work your best, you are less likely to be fired (for laziness, at least.)
But don’t confuse good principles operating under the structure of this world as God‘s favor. Sometimes you do all these things, and you are still abandoned, lose your job, never receive the pay you deserve, have health issues, and cannot provide for the future of those you love.
This is not a reflection of God’s favor on you.
Because not everyone doing well in this world reached success because of honor or adherence to God’s principles. There is a selfish kind of wisdom that will advance you in this life.
And even though God wanted to give Israel prosperity—sometimes they achieved it themselves through oppressive interest rates, enslaving others, buying land from the desperate, and exploiting the immigrant.
I found a Bible Project article article that mentioned, “… in the biblical narrative, prosperity, and wealth are often signs of brutal injustice toward the vulnerable.”
On the other hand, not everyone who adheres to God’s principles will be rewarded on earth. Christians are anticipating a home anda reward yet to come.
Besides, even though all perfect gifts come from him, not all things the world calls “good” are… good.
How #imblessed looks to unbelievers
Don’t use “though none go with me” as an excuse to trample others along your way. It does matter how we look and sound to unbelievers. Paul talked about the way the gift of tongues should be used in the church—stating that if a nonbeliever came in and it was chaotic, “Would he not think you were all mad?”
It is fine to live well here. Defend your right to burn trash on your lawn with your dying breath. Finagle a better interest rate and take your neighbor to court. Just don’t call it “trusting in the Lord,” “God’s favor,” or a “blessing,” and think that it glorifies God.
And stop confusing success in this world as proof heaven’s citizenship.
Is it your fault?
It’s painful when your life looks like you neither adhere to the decent principles of the world nor have tangible gifts and God’s favor. You lose your home, your job, your health. The most obvious question for other believers to ask you is, “Is this pain a result of your sin or your parents?” Just like the disciples asked Jesus regarding a man born blind. Just like Job’s friends accused. It’s easy to imagine the prodigal father questioned all his life’s choices before he ran to embrace his returning son and fell upon his neck.
Remember, all the tangible gifts given here on earth will still burn up with the rest of the temporal things. While we should enjoy them, we should more intently seek the treasures in eternity that can’t be destroyed. The favor you cannot yet see, taste, touch—or post on social media.
Sometimes people leave the faith because their torn garments, fasting and praying, doesn’t bring the good life or the restoration of relationship, that was promised. The candy machine God isn’t the one we should peddle… because it isn’t God’s favor or lack of tribulation that proves sonship. Not when Jesus said if they hated him—they would hate us. Not when he promised we would have to endure troubles.
Hebrews 12:7-8 “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”
We don’t need to always think of discipline as correction or punishment. Discipline is simply what makes you drag yourself out of bed in the morning. Most of the time, discipline is making the head choice instead of the flesh choice for food, exercise, study and relationships.
Discipline can be a judge—but it can also be a personal trainer.
And I feel like the writer of Hebrews is encouraging the reader with the reminder “in which we all have participated” as confirmation that your tough times, your pain, prove your legitimacy as children of God.
You’re not abandoned. You’re in training.
Such a good reminder…
This is very good and reminds me how we do not have a fully realized eschatology. And we won’t, until we meet Jesus face to face. In this world, we will have trouble. Indeed!
I had not heard, “Where God guides, He provides.” But it is reminiscent of “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” Both are wholly inaccurate. The apostle Peter comforts me in his first epistle with these words, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
This was encouraging. Thanks.
I did once hear a response to that quote “ God won’t give you more than you can handle”… “Of course he will give you more than you can handle! That way you need to rely on him to get through it!”