“Oh, magic Genie, make me rich and powerful!”
Poof! The young man – Aladdin – is instantly changed from a poor, dirty, undesirable to a wealthy & handsome prince. He struts into town, lavishing his wealth on everyone along the way and smiles his way into the home – and heart – of a beautiful princess. Every time Aladdin wants something, he needs only to rub the lamp, the genie drifts out of the lamp on a stream of smoke and *Poof* whatever he desires magically appears. A cute story, a fantasy, watched over and over by my son when he was little, but definitely not a reality.
“Oh, God, please do this for me. Make me rich or thin or healthy or…” We close our eyes, fold our hands and beg God to do our bidding, say “Amen!” then go on our way, expecting God to do exactly what we want Him to do in exactly the way we expect it. And, when we don’t get our way, we get angry and question God, demand that He explain Himself, fold our arms and storm off in a huff. We want God to be our genie in the lamp.
God is not a genie. God is Lord of all. He is the creator of the universe, our everlasting Father. He does promise to care of us – His children – but never does He promise to be at our beck and call. Never does He promise that we are entitled to a life free of trouble or work. His Word is clear that there are consequences for our choices. If we don’t take care of our bodies, we won’t be healthy. Refuse to work, and you won’t get paid. Pursue relationships in questionable places and you’ll have a questionable relationship. The list goes on.
We also fail to realize that we must belong to God before we are called His children. “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37:5&6. “But without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him,” Hebrews 11:6 (emphasis mine). Don’t ask God why he hasn’t answered your prayers if you aren’t willing to follow Him and His ways. It’s like being sick and going to a doctor you aren’t sure about and telling him that you’ll take the prescription he’s prescribing for your illness if he proves himself by making you well first. It doesn’t work that way and neither does God.
Too often, we forget who God is. We try to make the Lord a small part of our lives and then go to Him when we need something. Instead, God’s plan for us, for the fullest life possible, we must let our lives be a part of God. Jesus Christ must truly be Lord of our life. Only then will we have real peace and real joy. Only then can we have a relationship with our Savior and Lord that goes beyond what we can imagine and a life filled with the all of the blessings promised by God – blessings greater than all of the imaginary magic from Aladdin’s Lamp!
