Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 1-093 (Sermon)

Rod Benson helps dispel popular myths in a series of six sermons:

#2 – God is unreasonable / unreliable / unconcerned / unpleasable.

———————— FINDING GOD FOR YOURSELF ————————

According to recent surveys, the vast majority of Australians believe in God. The 1991 National Church Life Survey found that 83 percent of church attenders had no doubt there is a personal God, and the 1993 National Social Science Survey revealed that 61 percent of Australians in general believed in God.

The 1993 survey also revealed that half of that 61 percent had doubts about God: whether he was real, how he related to them, etc. Where did those doubts come from? Many of our beliefs about God come from what our parents, our friends, our schools, and the media have taught us, and some of those beliefs are false; they are myths that make us miserable.

All kinds of events and experiences happen in your life, and the way you interpret them determines whether you become a bitter or a better person. Plenty of people today are bitter about God because they’ve accepted myths about him, and they’ve chosen not to find him for themselves.

“Find out for yourself,” say Psalm 34:8, “how good the Lord is.” [Tonight] we’re going to explode four myths about God that make us miserable, and discover how to find the real God.

The Bible teaches that we are all made in God’s image. If you have a warped image of God, it may be that you have a distorted image of yourself. When Jesus came along, he exploded all the myths and misconceptions about God.

Until then God had generally been perceived as someone who was powerful but distant, awesome and almighty but not close and personal. But Jesus was a fellow human being, and he encouraged us to think of God as our heavenly Father.

Unfortunately, in our world, the term ‘Father’ can evoke all kinds of painful or resentful memories. Memories of a father who was aloof, absent, unreasonable, unreliable, unconcerned, maybe unpleasable. And we transfer these perceptions onto God, and they rob us of happiness and mess up our lives.

IS GOD UNREASONABLE?

One popular myth about God is that God in unreasonable. For example, you might say, “God places so many demands on my life there’s no way I can fulfil them all.” We feel overwhelmed by what we see as God’s unreasonable demands on us. God just wants me to be good and boring. He’s a ‘kill-joy,’ watching us intently from heaven, saying, “There’s one having fun – stop that!”

This is not a new myth; the very first recorded words of the devil programmed this myth into Eve’s mind in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 2:16-17 God said to Adam, “From every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat the fruit of it you shall surely die.”

And Satan sidled up to them and said, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat from every tree of the garden?'” (Genesis 3:1b). See how Satan turned God’s words around? God gave them freedom to eat from any tree in the garden, except one which would destroy them.

Was God unreasonable? It’s not as though he told Adam 90 percent of the garden was off limits. There was only one way to sin in Eden. Why even one? Because God wanted to provide Adam and Eve with a moral choice. God wants you to love him because you choose to love him, not because you have no choice!

God is not unreasonable. God is a compassionate Father. Lamentations 3:22 says, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” God knows what he’s doing, and any time he says ‘No’ to me it’s because he loves me. I sometimes say ‘No’ to Michael (my eight month old son), and it’s not because I want him to feel miserable but because I love him and I don’t want him to get hurt.

It’s the same with God. If you believe God doesn’t want you to be happy, you’ve fallen for Satan’s lie. Instead, “Delight yourself . . . in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Paul reinforces this in the New Testament when he says, “God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17). Get to know the real God, and he’ll fill your life with happiness!

IS GOD UNRELIABLE?

The second myth says that God is unreliable. God can’t be trusted, he’s inconsistent. This myth too is as old as Adam. In response to Satan’s question, Eve replies (Genesis 3:3): “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'” And Satan answers, “You will not surely die! For God knows that in the day you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (verses 4-5).

He’s really saying, “Look, Eve, this God of yours is unreliable – he can’t be trusted; he’s got a secret agenda, he’s not as powerful as you think he is, he goes back on his promises.” Satan whispers those same thoughts to us today, encouraging us to doubt God and his word.

There are three stages of temptation: doubt, deception and destruction. Satan will first encourage you to doubt what God says. He’ll say, “Did God really say this is wrong?” Or, “Did he really mean it when he said it?” Or, “Maybe he meant it then, but he doesn’t mean it now.”

Then he deceives you: “It can’t hurt anyone;” “No one will know;” “Everyone does it;” “Just this once.” And the result is that your defences crumble, your credibility suffers, and you’re eventually destroyed. Satan battles to convince us that God is unreliable. The truth is that God is a consistent Father. He can be trusted always to act the same way toward you.

I have a friend who drove past a speed camera, and was photographed. Knowing he was under the speed limit, he doubled back and drove past again. Sure enough, the light flashed and the camera clicked, but he was doing less then 60.

Just to make sure, he did it a third time at 40, with the same result. So he reported the faulty speed camera to the police. Three weeks later he received in the mail three traffic fines – for driving without a seat belt!

My friend thought the camera was faulty, but it did its job; it was trustworthy. Romans 11:29, in The Message, reminds us that “God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty – never cancelled, never rescinded.” God will never go back on his promises. Jesus said in Luke 21:33: “Though all heaven and earth shall pass away, yet my words remain forever true.” The only source of absolute truth is God.

IS GOD UNCONCERNED ABOUT ME?

A third myth common today is that God is unconcerned about me. I convince myself I’m insignificant; I don’t want to bother God with my problems. I don’t want to waste his time; he must have much more important things to deal with. Then Satan comes and whispers in my ear, “Who do you think you are? You’re worthless to God, you’re nothing. You don’t matter.” And you become miserable.

The truth is that God is a caring Father. In Matthew 10:29-31, Jesus says: “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

God cares about you! It doesn’t matter what other people think about you. What matters is what God thinks about you. In 1990 I went to New Zealand with Michelle and a friend, and as we drove through the magnificent natural beauty of that country, the radio kept playing the Bette Midler song, “From a distance God is watching you.” She’s wrong! God is not distant; he’s up close and personal.

IS GOD UNPLEASABLE?

The fourth myth is that God is unpleasable. Some of us have unpleasable parents, and we transfer that onto God. If that’s your experience, is it any wonder you don’t feel comfortable talking to God, or investing in a relationship with him? No one likes spending time with people who are constantly disappointed in them.

But here’s the truth: God is a gracious Father. He gives you what you need, not what you deserve. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “. . . you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

What happens when you use an electronic calculator and you get confused or make an error? Press the ‘clear’ button and all the information is eliminated from the calculator. Then you begin again, without trying to sort out the previous mistake. There’s no record of your mistake – it’s lost forever! God deals with our sin in the same way, when we accept what Jesus has freely done for us.

How do I find God? Start with an open mind; don’t be confused by false beliefs about God. Find out if what I’ve said tonight is true! Is God really a compassionate father? A consistent father? A caring father? A gracious father? From my own experience, and from what I read about God in the Bible, I believe he is. Reach out to him tonight.

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E024 Copyright (c) 2001 Rod Benson. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980).

You can contact Rev Rod Benson by e-mail at <>. To subscribe direct to his weekly sermons, e-mail him with “subscribe” in the subject.