God's Performance Record

In my previous article I used King David as an example of dealing with life’s anxiety. Even though pursued by an enemy, he was able to “lie down and sleep” because of His dependence on God. So, how do we draw from His example? How do we actually place our worries and anxieties into God’s hands? How??

A man pleaded with Jesus to heal his demon-possessed son. He said, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” (Mark 9:22) Look at the exchange that followed.

And Jesus said to him, “’If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

You might say that the man had a degree of belief, but also a degree of unbelief. He brought his son to Jesus, but he seems to have been apprehensive, as if to think, “I’m not really sure if Jesus can do anything, but it’s worth a try. Nothing else has worked.”

Do you ever feel that way about God?

You can say, “God is able,” because the Bible says as much. But when it gets down to the grind of daily life, you wonder; you doubt. It is as if the Bible teaching is a doctrinal position, a kind of ideal, but the reality of life is different.

On one occasion my middle daughter sat outside after a school activity waiting for me to pick her up. The moms of some of her friends offered her a ride. Her coach, the last one to leave, offered her a ride. She declined each of their offers saying, “My dad is picking me up.”

I had forgotten her on that occasion! My wife called and reminded me. I was very late. I apologized to my daughter and asked her if she was concerned. “No, I knew you’d come.”

She knew I would come because I had always come before. Even though I was late that time, I had a good track record. For that reason, she was confident that I’d come.

When you read the Bible and consider God’s track record, He always shows up. He provides when we ask. He provides when we do not ask. And yet, He sometimes says, “No,” and He sometimes disciplines us. In all of this, however, God has never failed.

Consider the occasion in which God refused Paul. Having prayed three times for God to remove his thorn in the flesh, Paul was told by God, “My grace is sufficient for you.” It was God telling Paul that He was providing all that Paul needed. He did not need to remove the thorn in the flesh for Paul to be effective in accomplishing His will. (Read it in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.)

Sometimes, when the answer is not, “Yes,” we are tempted to think that God did not show up. However, that is to evaluate God according to our personal timetable, i.e., according to our personal will. When we look at God’s record in accomplishing HIS will, He has a spotless record. The difficulty that we may encounter is that we are dissatisfied with God's track record in accomplishing 'my' will.

HOW do we “lie down and sleep” when experiencing life’s turmoil? 

We pray and then we do the best with our plans and activities. 

The reason we can sleep is because God’s will is more important than our personal will. He will accomplish it. If God does not help us, it is because He knows that, like Paul, His grace is sufficient. That means that He knows that we can endure the difficulty. 

Our faith (or lack of it) is not what makes God powerful. When God identified Himself to Moses saying, “I am who I am,” it had absolutely nothing to do with you and me. So, we rest in His power and His wisdom by aligning our will with His saying, “Your will be done.”


Mark Stinnett

June 9, 2024