Ask God First

not Google

I have been reminded recently that when there is some pressing need--some troubling development--some thorn in the side--some chronic, persistent heartache--

I need to ask God about it first.

Not Google, or ChatGPT, or twenty different friends, or my favorite podcaster. Before I go to a doctor or a therapist or even a pastor, I need to go to God and open my Bible and see if there is anything He wants to say to me about the situation.

I remember one time, riddled with anxiety about something, I talked to some friends about my problem for hours and hours. We went around and around in circles; we discussed every facet of it.

It didn't help much; I was still anxious and didn't know exactly what to do.

Then I went to church and prayed for about fifteen minutes. My anxiety lifted completely, and the problem that had so tormented me ended up being no problem at all.

It is in our times of distress--when we need real answers--that we can really find God if we will press in. This is when He becomes tangibly, experientially real to us. This is when we really start to know Him.

He is especially near to us when we are troubled: "He is near to the brokenhearted, and He saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

It was true in the lives of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), and it was also true in the lives of those who were healed by Jesus in the New Testament.

The kind of faith that Jesus praised was often mingled with desperation.

There was the woman who pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of His garment (Mark 5: 21-34).

And there was the Gentile woman whose daughter was demon-possessed. Jesus spoke words to her that some find offensive. There are various theories as to why He did this; my theory is that He wanted to show us the breadth and quality of this woman's faith. She wouldn't take Jesus' rebuff for an answer. This strikes me as audacious, even disrespectful, but Jesus praises her: "O woman, great is your faith!" (Matthew 15: 21-28).

Then there's the story of the importunate widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18: 1-8).

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Reading the Gospel of Matthew recently, I was struck by all the "disputing" going on. People were always clustered in little groups, "disputing."I wonder sometimes if "disputing" is the opposite of faith.

In my life, I have at times been more inclined to "dispute" than to press through the crowd and touch the hem of His garment.

I sought a human, intellectual solution for a spiritual problem that only God could fix.

For many of us, our faith is not of the pure, unadulterated type. It's mixed with bitter life experiences and--yes--intellectual disputations.

Jesus may marvel at the smallness of our faith, as He did the disciples', but He doesn't despise us for it.

Sometimes we have to wrestle with God, like Jacob. We must wrestle all night long, till the break of day, saying "I won't let go till You bless me!" (Genesis 32: 22-32).

The key is to wrestle with God Himself in prayer, not solely with intellectual propositions.

Sometimes we have to confess--like the father of the demonized boy--"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24).

Jesus DID help this man's unbelief by allowing Him to see a miracle.

He still does miracles!

I'm not saying that we shouldn't go to doctors or therapists or pastors or even Google. I am saying, however, that if we first commit our distressing situations to God, He will lead us to the right treatments, the right counsel, the right course of action, the right resources.

Sometimes He calls us to wait without knowing exactly what we should do.

Sometimes, we have to endure some kind of suffering.

But when we seek Him in our distressing situations, we find that He is with us, and that His grace is sufficient for us in our time of trouble (2 Corinthians 12:9).