Blog
Faith or Fatalism?
Thursday, March 10, 2022 by C. F. Sherrow
If the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise . . .
God willing. . .
Lord, if it’s Your Will . . .
Have you ever prayed for God’s will to be done, not if faith, but in fatalism? So many times, Christians pray hesitantly, asking God to do something that’s clearly in His will but hedging their bets.
For example, is it God’s will to save people? “He is not willing that any should perish”: (Matt 18:14) Of course.
How about healing? Yep. “They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover”: (Mark 16:18)
I’ve heard people say they pray this way so they aren’t being presumptuous with God. But if something is already in His will, and says so in Scripture, how can our asking be presumptuous? I have a feeling these people might lean more toward fatalism.
Have you ever had a fatalistic attitude? I know I have, especially as a younger Christian who was afraid of anything having to do with getting closer to God. I just know He was waiting to take something or someone away from me if and when I stepped out of line. It can even be a fight to not go there now.
I tell you what – these past six months have been a roller coaster ride. And I hate roller coasters! If I don’t start throwing up, I get a massive headache. But life just keeps coming with its ups and downs.
Last year, a publisher contracted with me for all three of my books in the trilogy. Yay! Then, only a day before the deadline for submission for the third one, a guy ran a red light and hit my car. I ended up with upper body sprain and whiplash, and a concussion. Then about three months ago, the publisher stopped communicating with my editor and me. It would get real easy to go into fatalism and decide God must not want me to write, otherwise He would have stopped these things. Oh, my, don’t go there!
I know I am called to write His truth in story form. I know I am called to minister healing to the brokenhearted. And I know God is not in control, but He is in charge. He only controls what we turn over to Him because He honors our free will. As long as I ask Him for my next step, and then follow his directions, His will is done.
And His name is glorified.
some illustrations courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
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