“God is not a man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent;

Has He said, and will He not do it?

Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Numbers 23:19

I wonder how many of us have had thoughts similar to those below?

I can’t get past this horrible condition. I know I am saved; I have no doubts there. But I cannot get hold of the truths you teach. They just must not be for me. I know God cannot lie but His promises elude me. There is no peace in my life. No joy. No victories. It doesn’t matter how I beg and plead God doesn’t come through . . .

What’s wrong? Well, it could be because it is very difficult to accept a gift without paying something for it or without giving something back. (I still struggle with that concept with my friends – I always have to “pay them back” some way for anything they do for me. You bring me a bowl of soup when I’m sick and you can take it to the bank that you’ll be getting a bowl of soup back!) And to believe the incomprehensibles and the superlatives God uses in the promises He gives to us only adds to the seeming impossibility of getting out of the “horrible condition” you sometimes experience.

Let me give you something to think about. Let’s say you are married. The ceremony took place eleven years ago. Do you still “feel” married? (A rare condition). But, do you act married? I hope you do. You’re playing with dynamite if you don’t! Why do you still honor your marriage vows? You made those vows in front of a pastor who might have been a stranger to you, you said “I do” to his questions, you kissed the bride/groom, and pasted your marriage certificate in your scrapbook. But you accept as truth the words of commitment presented to you by a man and written on a sheet of paper.

Yet you doubt the Words of God given to us in the Bible. We believe the immutability and the inerrancy of Scripture. Why do we feel that we are being less than honest if we accept as truth what He says to us? Because we put ourselves under “law”. If you do this, God will love you. If you don’t do that God accepts you. If you look like a Ralph Lauren man or Miss Universe, God loves you more than the poor guy who falls miserably short of the Lauren look.

Do you know that there is nothing you can do to make God love you any more and there is nothing you can do to make God loves you any less. Yes, you can disappoint God by not living like a child of His should and He might have to scold you or straighten you out, but there is absolutely nothing you can do to provoke Him to the point where He says: “That’s it! I’ve had it with you! Leave the family and don’t bother to come back!”

So you are now His child – unequivocally. That is settled. He is your Father and He is the perfect Father. Don’t compare your birth dad and your heavenly Dad. Your earth-father may have been less than perfect in your relationship – not so with God. You say that you know this Father of yours cannot lie, and yet you reject His words and in so doing are saying to Him, “I don’t believe You. You’re lying to me. That’s just not true!”

Let’s look at this “peace” issue. Your Father has said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; ” (John 14:27). He is talking to you (and me) and has just told you that He has given you peace so when you say, “I have no peace”