God cares about it more than we do

Axiom #5 in Matt Tebbe & Ben Sternke's book 'Having the Mind of Christ: Eight Axioms to Cultivate A Robust Faith' is entitled "GOD CARES ABOUT (ALL OF) IT MORE THAN WE DO."

I must confess, this chapter is a bit of a challenge for me. I mean, I like the idea, and hope it's true... but it's a difficult reality for me to grasp. In other words, I have my doubts. And I'm not saying they are wrong. It's just a difficult concept for me.

Anyway, here are some tidbits I did appreciate:

• "For some reason we think that spiritual progress is marked by lack of struggle in life... this is simply not the case. Spiritual progress is learning to confront the struggle in a new way so that we don't struggle with the fact that life is fraught with struggle." - Martin Laird
• "What if we could trust that God is at work, even when we are unaware of it? What if we could relax, knowing that it isn't all up to us to make discipleship or growth or transformation happen?" (p. 87, and it is/would be great if true!)
• Ballroom dancing analogy: "...learning to be vulnerable but not passive..." (p. 89)

• "It's important to note that the mistake I made was not that I wanted to be serous about following Jesus and participating in God's mission. Neither was my mistake creating a plan for growth involving spiritual disciplines. Wanting to follow Jesus was evidence of God's work in my life, and making a plan was a wise way to respond. The mistake I made was thinking it was all up to me to stay connected to God. I assumed I cared more about it than God did. I believed God was mainly just waiting and watching to see how I did, and I wanted to perform well. So it never occurred to me to bring my spiritual apathy to God, or my frustration with myself, or the shame I felt when I failed. God was the last person I wanted to talk to about these things because God was the person I was trying to impress... I believed that I cared more about my spiritual life than God did." (p.93)
  

• "But the good news for those of us who are serious about life in God's kingdom is this: God cares about (all of) it more than we do. There is nothing we can do to make God love us any more or any less, and our life in God isn't a performance for God, it's communion with God..." (p.93)
• "You don't have to convince God to help you grow as a disciple of Jesus. In fact, your desire to grow was planted there by God in the first place! God isn't a disinterested bystander in your life. God is the very ground of your being, closer to you than you are to yourself, intimately concerned with your life and flourishing and shalom... God is already more involved than you realize... The good news is God is doing plenty, because God cares about this stuff and about you." (p.94)
• There is another good 'Experiment of Trust' involving Psalm 44 and shifting our prayer from "Why aren't you doing something?" to "Jesus, I trust that you care about this more than I do. Show me how you're at work in this situation." (p.101)

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Psalm 44:23-26

Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?
    Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.  

Why do you hide your face
    and forget our misery and oppression? 

We are brought down to the dust;
    our bodies cling to the ground.  

Rise up and help us;
    rescue us because of your unfailing love.