Learning to Speak God from Scratch by Jonathan Merritt & Shauna Niequist

Author:Jonathan Merritt & Shauna Niequist
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2018-08-13T16:00:00+00:00

Disillusionment occurs when God shatters our fantasies, tears down our idols, dismantles our cardboard cutouts.

Which is to say, this Gospel story is not about donkeys and palm branches at all. It’s a reminder that placing expectations on God based on our wants is a recipe for resentment. But nurturing openness to divine mystery is a framework for faith.

My pain disorder has persisted despite my best efforts, but so has my relationship with God. I refuse to let my disappointment sever divine ties. And you know what? Over time, I’ve begun to uncover and shed illusions. I’m dismantling mirages I’ve constructed around productivity and identity and self-worth.

I can no longer work twelve-to-fourteen-hour days, so…

I can no longer pretend that who I am is enhanced by how much I produce, so…

I can no longer ground my sense of worth in accomplishments and accolades, and…

I can no longer pretend that God will keep me healthy or heal my every ache and pain.

I have traded these lies for a truth: that in times of difficulty, God offers us presence, not a parachute. This exchange of falsehood for fact transformed my disappointment into disillusionment. And disillusion turned out to be a horrible, wonderful gift.

What we experience as disappointment is an invitation to give up holding tight to what we hope is true. To stop trying to cast God in our image. To let God be who God is, not who we wish God would be.

The choice is ours. And who knows? If we decide to step off the dopamine roller coaster, maybe we’ll find ourselves at the foot of a cross, giving up all we have for the One who gave up everything for us.

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