Please don’t file this one under “R” for rant.  Its just something I’ve been thinking about.  And I freely admit its not fully cooked yet.  So, if you’re willing to dive into some dialogue then please read on.

I’ve heard many times from wonderful people I love and admire that when they’re under what they consider “attack from the enemy”, its only because God must be getting ready to do something really amazing. To them, those two things always seem to go hand in hand: Satan’s attack and God doing some next-level-whatever-you-want-to-call-it.  As if Satan and God are at a chess board and Satan has moved his knight into check and God is about to blow his mind with some counter-defensive-never-saw-that-coming maneuver. Boom.

Now, I’m not any kind of expert, but I don’t see that kind of idea in scripture.  I suppose in an indirect way we could construe that God is always ready and willing and moving and able to deliver His children from attack, but what I trip over is the idea of using an attack from the enemy as THE indicator that God is “on the verge” of something great.

Certainly our experiences of God’s deliverance can verify and bear witness to the truth of God’s goodness, but when we use our experiences to define God’s goodness…well…I think that’s a tricky, slippery, and even dangerous place to build your theology.

I just want my view of God to be built more on what He has said than poetic sentiment more likely found in a greeting card.

Too harsh?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.