{"id":2588,"date":"2013-05-04T20:00:05","date_gmt":"2013-05-05T00:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/godonomics\/?p=2588"},"modified":"2013-05-04T20:58:29","modified_gmt":"2013-05-05T00:58:29","slug":"an-unstable-craving-for-god-do-we-want-god-to-use-us-or-are-we-using-god-to-get-what-we-want","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2013\/05\/an-unstable-craving-for-god-do-we-want-god-to-use-us-or-are-we-using-god-to-get-what-we-want.html","title":{"rendered":"An UnStable Craving for God: Do We Want God to USE us, or are we USING God to get what we want"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>An Unstable Craving<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was so convicted to realize that often I say I want God, but I am really using God to get what I want. \u00a0 \u00a0When God doesn’t give me what I want: A happy marriage, obedient kids, and a career firing on all cylinders, I get mad at him and withdraw from him. \u00a0 \u00a0Sadly, I wasn’t wanting God, \u00a0I was using God to get something I found more valuable. \u00a0 Will I develop a unstable craving for God himself?<\/p>\n

1. Ipex have an Unstable Craving for God<\/strong><\/p>\n

David mentions the deer\/Ipex\/Ram again in Psalms 42…<\/p>\n

42:1-3 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?<\/span><\/p>\n

Notice the craving is a thirst for knowing God personally. \u00a0\u00a0Not being a good person, being moral, or doing the right thing. \u00a0\u00a0You can be a good, moral person with no thirst for God. \u00a0No personal relationship with him. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Notice that David pants for \u201cyou, o God.\u201d \u00a0He wants to know him. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His soul thirsts for God himself. \u00a0He is homesick for God and can\u2019t wait to appear before him. \u00a0\u00a0Is this psychological instability? This is not religion. This is not irreligion. This is an unstable craving for God himself.<\/p>\n

\n

There is a big difference between Confidence in God and say, \u201cWishful thinking.\u201d \u00a0Several years ago I had someone come up to me after a service and say, \u201cWOW! I read this great book called the secret. \u00a0It\u2019s about visualizing good things in life and willing them into existence. Chad, this is just what you were talking about..\u201d \u00a0I paused… Hmmm, No, that\u2019s not what I am talking about. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thinking we can \u201cwill\u201d the universe or reality to modify to our liking is naive at best, egomania at worse. It\u2019s an attempt to be God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No, wishful thinking is NOT what the Bible is subscribing. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This STABLE FOOTING that comes from an UNSTABLE CRAVING is not \u201cstockholm Syndrome\u201d<\/p>\n

Stockholm Syndrome is the belief that \u201cwe will be free by Christmas\u201d and then Christmas comes and hopelessness caves in… \u00a0\u00a0Optimists die in Captivity… \u00a0Realism… is different… Not \u201cwe are going to be out by Christmas.. but instead, \u201cyou must not confuse faith that you will prevail in the end -which you can never afford to lose- with discipline to confront the most brutal of facts of your current reality, whatever it might be…. \u00a0\u00a0John Leach teaches Survival skills to British forces. \u00a0He wrote Survival Psychology, \u00a0the bible for who lives and dies in difficulty in life… for special forces. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He teaches people how to survive in freezing reaches of Canada, steamy jungles of Belize, and scorching deserts of Southern California. \u00a0\u00a0He said the biggest mistake you can make is superstition… different from faith, \u201cThe illogic goes like this: If you don\u2019t think about something, it won\u2019t happen. If you do think about it, it will. So when it comes to danger, it\u2019s better not to think about it at all… It\u2019s classic superstition and nothing is more perilous to your survival\u201d<\/p>\n

Unstable Craving vs. Unstable Superstition<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Only truth can make you free. \u00a0\u00a0Most of us think superstition is faith. It\u2019s not. \u00a0The Bible calls us to truthful thinking, not wishful thinking.<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Superstition: \u00a0If I think about something…it does or doesn\u2019t happen<\/p>\n

Unstable Craving: God, I want you to be more real to me as we go through this.<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Superstition: \u00a0I can\u2019t handle this if it goes on for more than two months.<\/p>\n

Craving: God I need you to strengthen me for whatever comes my way.<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Notice that David is in difficulty. \u00a0He can\u2019t wish his enemies away or hope for the best. But he can know that God is with him. Know God is in control. Know that he is not alone. \u00a0\u00a0Then David tells us his secret.. What he \u201cremembers\u201d in the midst of difficulty.<\/p>\n

2. An Unstable Conversation to overcome fear with truth<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many think that in the face of danger we Panic! \u00a0You see this in movies all the time. \u00a0\u00a0A bomb blows up. An emergency strikes and people PANIC, they run around yelling and screaming. \u00a0\u00a0Researchers have found that fear doesn\u2019t usually result in Panic. Instead we freeze. \u00a0\u00a0The word \u201cPan\u201d-ic comes from a Greek God Pan who ruled the woods and fields and stirred up mysterious sounds causing contagious groundless fear in herds and crowds or in people in lonely places. \u00a0He was very ram like too. \u00a0The ram of Panic makes us fearful in the face of adversity, the unknown, or a tough decision. \u00a0We panic, nut in contrast to the movies, we freeze when we fear. \u00a0Like deer in the headlights… We don\u2019t know what to do.. so they freeze… As David is hit with unknown uncertainty, he doesn\u2019t panic or freeze out of fear. David knows that \u201cstanding\u201d there will not work. \u00a0\u00a0Instead he Purposely engages in what might seem like an unstable practice. He talks truth to himself!<\/p>\n

He teaches his mind to lap up the truth that God is with him. God is near. \u00a0He is not alone. \u00a0\u00a0He thanked God for being with him in the difficulty.<\/p>\n

4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise. With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.<\/span><\/p>\n

That might seem unstable… \u201ctalking to yourself\u201d about God, his presence, his with-you-ness… That might seem like an unstable Craving for \u201csuperstition…\u201d \u00a0But it\u2019s not… David reminds himself of these things… That knowing God and leaning into his strength is the most important way to endure. \u00a0\u00a0Research has shown that those who set their minds on this type of thinking: Not only Survive… They Thrive in Difficulty.<\/p>\n

Several years ago, I had a friend who started coming to Horizon for the first time. \u00a0He was not a church goer or a person of faith. \u00a0\u00a0He started coming when he met a friend, Rob, who attended Horizon. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rob\u2019s life seemed genuine and to have a \u201cquality\u201d that this guy wanted. \u00a0\u00a0After he had been attending for a few months, I was sharing this idea of \u201csoul talk\u201d and how two people can encounter the same situation and have totally different reactions. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After the service, he pulled me aside and said, \u201cThis explains everything… \u00a0\u00a0I can\u2019t tell you how many things in my life are suddenly coming into focus.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We talked for awhile as he asked questions about how to \u201ctalk truth to yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

United Flight 232 from Denver to Chicago was going down. \u00a0\u00a0Jerry Schemmel said to himself, \u201cWe\u2019re going down.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0As it made an easy right turn at 37000 feet, a huge fan rotor in engine two disintegrated, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Inside the cabin, it sounded like a thunderclap. \u00a0\u00a0Schemmel immediately began to pray. \u00a0his first words were not for deliverance or for himself. Rather, he thanked God that his wife Diane wasn\u2019t with him on the flight. He would never want her to experience this kind of dread. \u00a0Then he surveyed the rest of the passengers and saw panic in their eyes. They were frozen with fear.\u201d \u00a0A wave of sobbing swept through the cabin. \u00a0\u00a0Schemmel turned to the Lord and said, \u201cHelp them God, Please help the flight attendants… My life is basically in order, at least as much as anyone has a right to expect when suddenly faced with death. Take me God, if you have to, I\u2019m ready. \u00a0\u00a0Schemmel was 29 years old. \u00a0\u00a0He kept talking to himself and praying, \u201cDon\u2019t panic, Stay calm. Help other passengers out of the plane. Don\u2019t flee the aircraft if we land…\u201d \u00a0\u00a0The plane cart wheeled down the runway, broke into two pieces and landed in a cornfield across from the airport. Schemmel was one of 184 survivors; 112 were killed in the crash, including Schemmel’s boss. \u00a0“I look back at that experience and see for me the easy part. That crash was easy compared to what followed,” he said. \u00a0Schemmel was warned about the symptoms of post-traumatic stress – survivor’s guilt, anger, listlessness and depression – but never thought it would happen to him. Like everybody else, I had a really difficult time with post-traumatic stress, anger, depression and survivor\u2019s guilt,\u201d he said. \u201cAbout a year after the crash, being unemployed, having a marriage that was hanging by a thread, in depression from the crash, I had nowhere else to turn. I had no spiritual foundation, so I turned to God, asked Jesus to come into my life and for relief. I invited Christ into my life as my lord and savior. Once I figured out that it\u2019s never going to make sense, and I\u2019ll never have the answers, it got easier after that. God has a plan for everybody. I would\u2019ve written it differently, but I have faith in him.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ourcoloradonews.com\/arvada\/news\/radio-announcer-shares-survival-story\/article_b3401692-c6e1-11e1-8457-0019bb2963f4.html<\/a><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

How did Jerry find a Stable Footing? \u00a0With an Unstable Craving! \u00a0He began to crave God like a Deer craves water. \u00a0He began to Crave God\u2019s truth and talk truth to himself, rather than Freezing in the face of uncertainty and death. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jerry found what David found… A craving after God… gives a stable footing. \u00a0Jesus was the ultimate example of this..<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus finds himself on a few mountains in his life. \u00a0And he has an incredibly stable footing in the most difficult mountains. \u00a0He is on the Mount of Olives praying for God to allow him to NOT be crucified, but God tells him to go forward anyway. \u00a0Jesus says, Not my will, but yours be done… And after hours of cravings after God\u2019s power and strength, he has the footing to take on the death on a cross. \u00a0\u00a0Jesus finds himself on the Mountain of Transfiguration, another mountain where he reveals himself to his followers as more than a man. He reveals himself as God himself. \u00a0\u00a0They are so in awe of Jesus, they set up an altar to worship Him right there. \u00a0\u00a0They crave knowing him even more. \u00a0\u00a0Then Jesus finds himself on The mountain of golgotha… Here on this mount he dies, is tortured, to mocked, is crushed, and in the midst of the most horrible terrain a human being has ever endured, Jesus finds the stable footing of God. \u00a0He is able to forgive his enemies. \u00a0he is able to surrender himself to God in the midst of the tragedy by saying, \u201cINto YOUR HANDS I commit my spirit.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0And his craving and thirst from God is evident… One of the last phrases out of his mouth is \u201cI thirst\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

A Stable Footing Comes from an Unstable Craving<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Run to the Mountain, instead of running to the mountains.<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

When we are in trouble, we have a desire to run away. We even use the phrase, \u201chead for the hills\u201d or run to the mountains to describe the desire to run away from instability in our lives. \u00a0\u00a0We pray \u201crun to the mountains\u201d prayers.. \u201cGod, fix this… change this…. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God get me out of here.\u201d \u00a0These are all RUn to the mountain prayers… But what if we RUN TO THE MOUNTAIN, instead of running for the mountains. \u00a0\u00a0What if God was our mountain. What if he was our strength in the midst of difficulty. \u00a0\u00a0We would have the mountain with us at all times. \u00a0\u00a0Escapism doesn\u2019t work for long through positive thinking, drugs, sex, or medication. \u00a0\u00a0We need to RUN TO THE MOUNTAIN, instead of running for the mountains.<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 The strength goes with you wherever you go.<\/p>\n

\n

For more information, check out www.godonomics.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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