Is Jesus your good luck charm or the God you trust in all circumstances?

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God is My Good Luck Charm

posted by Erin Davis on 12/16/10 | Twitter: @ErinGraffiti
Category: Faith; ; 17 comments

You sure must be praying about our critical year-end need this month, because God's answering! We've nearly reached our matching challenge, which means we're almost halfway to our $1.3 million need this month! If you've been putting off sending in your gift—and want to DOUBLE it—now would be the time to do so. 

 

I'm not much of a sports fan, so when I sit down to catch a game with my husband or head to the ballpark with my two boys I tend to pay attention to anything but the plays. Maybe that's why I noticed that when things go well, a lot of athletes point up.

I think I understand what they are trying to say. Pointing skyward after a killer play or big score has become a symbol for giving God the glory. I get that they are trying to thank God for giving them the talent and ability to compete. But I notice that no one ever gives God credit when they stumble, fall, or fail. They all seem to be depending on Him to help them succeed. horseshoeIt's as if He's their good luck charm.

I'm not an athlete (maybe that's why I'm not much of a fan), but I'm just as guilty of treating Jesus like a good luck charm. When I want to do well, want things to go my way, or even want to succeed for my own glory, I sometimes run to Him like I would a lucky rabbit's foot or pre-game ritual. And when life throws me a curveball, I find myself wondering "Where were you on that one Jesus?"

I know I'm not alone. In fact, most of the girls we talked to for Lies Young Women Believe told us that their prayer lives reflect the belief that God should fix their problems. Instead of creating a balanced prayer life that includes praise, thanksgiving, listening, and confession, most of them told us they tend to simply offer God a to-do list. In other words, they count on Him to make things go their way. I recently heard Dannah tell a room full of teenagers that she believes "God should fix my problems" is the biggest lie young women believe. I tend to agree.

I can see how this lie starts to form in our hearts. God does tell us that we can talk to Him about the circumstances of our lives and even gives us permission to ask for things to go our way.

Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

If it's okay to pray in every situation, then certainly we can pray for God to change our circumstances. But it is important to keep in mind that God is more interested in changing us to be a reflection of Christ than He is with solving all of our problems. If the chips are down in the game of life, it doesn't mean that God's power has worn off; it simply means that in His sovereignty, He has chosen to use difficult circumstances to make us more like Him.

One writer put it this way, "In the Gospels Jesus never seemed too interested in fans. Is that how you define your relationship with Him? An enthusiastic admirer? Close enough to Jesus to get the benefits but not so close to require sacrifice? There's got to be more than just going to church, praying when in a jam, and volunteering at a shelter (Kyle Idleman on notafan.com).

Maybe Jesus is okay with the fact that I'm not a fan. (I'm not talking about sports anymore.) I know He wants me to move beyond seeing Him as a superhero I give a shout out to every once in a while or a genie I depend on to make sure life goes my way. Yes, He wants me to ask for help with the details of my life, but He also teaches me that He is still in charge and He is still good even when my life isn't going as I'd like it to.

How about you?

Do you spend most of your prayer time asking God to make you the star of your own life? Do you give Him the glory when things are going great but not when you're circumstances are tough or your abilities limited? Are you a fan of Jesus who points toward Him when the road is smooth or a follower who adores Him in all circumstances?

Is Jesus your good luck charm or the God you trust in all circumstances?

Comments

HEY, GIRLS! We love hearing from you, but feel limited in the ways we can help. For one thing, we’re not trained counselors. If you’re seeking counsel, we encourage you to talk to your pastor or a godly woman in your life as they’ll know more details and can provide you with ongoing accountability and help. Also, the following comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Revive Our Hearts. We reserve the right to remove comments which might be unhelpful, unsuitable, or inappropriate.

    Some random chick
    Re:
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 9:08 am
    Just personally, I think the reason athletes don't point up to the sky when they fall is because either a) it would look like they are BLAMING God, and/or b) flipping someone off. LOL! IDK that's just how I see it, ya know? xD
    Chloe
    Wow...
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 9:30 am
    This really made me think about a lot of the stuff and in my thought process I realized that I do treat Jesus like my good luck charm most of the time. I pray for the people and the things in my life that I'm concerned for and then thank God when he answers one of them.
    I know that this is a little off the subject but just a few short weeks ago one of my youth members was burned very badly over 65% of his body. Most of them were second degree burns but some of them were third degree. He wasn't supposed to live and for a while there they thought that he was going to die because his respiratory system was shutting down and his body temperature was lowering. (He's not out of the woods yet, he still could die.) I knew this kid fairly well from school and church. This situation taught me that we should be very careful with what we pray for and that we should always thank God for everything he gives us and praise him because we never know when the journey here on earth will end. Bobby's taught me something without even knowing it, he's taught me that instead of asking God for all of these things and to do all of these things for us, we should be content with most of what we have. If we're going through a hard time wouldn't it be better if we asked God to give us peace during this time and pray that his will be done instead of asking him to do what we want to be done? He does know best after all and we're in no position to be telling the Creator of the world what to do or to be constantly telling him what we want, he's not a Santa Clause after all. Thank you so much for posting this, Erin. You just helped me realize how I can make my prayers better. :)
    Steph
    =)
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 10:07 am
    I have actually been thinking about this alot lately!! I definaetly tend to use God as some one who will give me what I want when I want it!!! In the past couple of weeks, I had been upset about my "habbit" and thinking pretty hard on it, so this was really in couraging to me!
    Brandi
    Re:
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 10:24 am
    This is something I have really been struggling with. I always run to God to help me fix my problems, but when everything is going good I walk away from Him. I really want to be close to Him all the time and not just when I need Him to fix something for me.
    Katie Sarah
    God Should Fix Our Problems?
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 10:37 am
    God is definetly not our good luck charm, we are like His clay and He is the Potter. Sometimes whenever I am going through hard times in my life and I pray for God to make everything better. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that, so please, ladies, don't think Erin is telling us not to pray. She is! We just need to be careful about our response to how they are answered. We can't expect God to answer our prayers the way we always want Him to. The God of the Universe saved us from Hell! We need to be thankful for that. God tells us that if we ask, He will answer, it may not always be a GO, (yes), it may be a SLOW, (later), or it could a WOAH! (yes and more), or it could be a NO (no, but something better). Great post Erin!
    Lydia D.
    Re:
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 10:41 am
    There actually was a player who regularly points upward to God. He even did it after a bad play. I'm trying to remember who it was, I think it was Albert Pujols, but I'll look it up.
    Aaveri
    Re:
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 11:39 am
    I try not to do this but as humans we just want Him to fix our problems and couldn't care less about Him or if we do care well we loose tract.
    savvy
    Re:
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 12:07 pm
    Hey thanks for writing this post! Sometimes i find myself wondering why God didn't bless me for something that i sacrificed for him. I know it sounds really wrong, but sometimes i just can't help it! Though God has reveald to me just recently to store up your treasure in heaven. And with that thought i have become much more greateful for the things God hs given me!:)
    Heather
    This has nothing to do with the topic.
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 2:31 pm
    I'm so stupid. I'm unbelievably stupid. I was JUST talking to this guy online, someone who I don't even know who lives 1000s of miles away from me. We were chatting and I asked him how old he was. He's 36. That took me off guard because I imagined him being younger by the way he spoke, but I kept talking to him anyway. He was really nice, and he listened to me talk about my bad relationship with my father and other things. We were getting along very well, and he got me to trust him.

    And then he asked me to send him a picture of myself.

    Ugh! I'm so stupid!!! I told him that I would. And then he said something like "How about a picture of you in the shower? Just kidding." -- That should have been a red flag. But I'm too stupid and naive to see a red flag when it's dancing in front of me. I wasn't thinking that this is a 36-year-old man who I don't even know, I was thinking this is a really nice guy who cares about me and wants to be my friend.

    Well, I didn't send him a naked picture (even I'm not naive enough to do that), but I did send him just a regular pic of me from about a year ago. He sent me a pic of himself...and when I saw his pic it hit me: this guy is 36-years-old!!! That sounds stupid that I thought he would look younger, but it's different chatting onscreen than speaking to someone face-to-face. I had already made up an age and a face for him in my head.

    So now some man twice my age who I don't know has a picture of me, and I feel gross. He was soooo chatting me up. Pedophiles and perverts do this sort of thing all the time!!! They try to be really nice to you, and then they go in for the kill. And I didn't even realize that I was being played until after I had sent the pic!!! I'm so stupid.

    So what's the moral of the story? Be careful when you're talking to someone online!!!! Because talking to a screen is wayyyy different than talking in person. It's easier for men to deceive you. It's so dangerous! I'm 19, I should know this by now!!!
    cassie
    re
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 4:22 pm
    James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift comes from God. He is responsible. You can thank Him for ANYTHING good. He wants to bless your life. He notices small things too. Dont think that just cause you arent interersted in sports that God inst interested in the feelings of the players. He wants to bless lives in even small ways.
    Libs
    good luck...
    on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 4:40 pm
    It is SO easy to view God as a good luck charm, for sure. I needed to read this - to have my perspective and life challenged. I would life to rearrange my prayer life.
    Some random chick
    Question?
    on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 12:00 am
    This doesn't really have anything to do with what we're talking about, but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this. I'm gonna try to explain it in a way that'll hopefully make sense, lol. Okay: God doesn't WANT any of us to sin. But if we DO sin, then God has a way to turn it around into something good, like say for example, if I got into a certain sin, then my little sister could look at what had happened to me because I'd been involved with that particular sin and she could say "Nuh-uh, I'm not gonna do that." But I'm wondering: here's where it will probably start to sound confusing, but do you guys think that God kinda has like two doors for each situation in our lives, if you will, that's like "If she chooses NOT to sin, this is what's gonna happen."(Door A) and "If she chooses to sin, this is what's gonna happen, and this is how I'm gonna make it work out for good in the end." (Door B)? Sorry if that didn't make sense, it's kinda difficult sometimes to explain things over the Internet so I hope you guys get what I mean! And like, I know that God knows everything, so He knows each time we are gonna choose to avoid sin and He knows each time we're gonna choose to give in to sin before we even come in contact with this decision, but do you think [this might be a better way to explain my question] He kinda has in the back of His mind, "If she wouldn't have given in, this is what would've happened" like it's some whole other plan that He knew ABOUT, but knew would never actually happen because of the choice we would make? Now I'm confusing myself... LOL! (:
    Marz
    Re:Heather
    on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 12:00 am
    Heather, I totally feel for you. There are times when I can't help but feeling dirty or just angry at myself for doing things I know I shouldn't have in the past. But if we keep hiding in the corner with our shame, we don't allow God's Mercy and Beauty to find us, though it is already actively searching for us. It was good that you brought your struggle out into the open and I think you'd really benefit from the blog here.
    Maybe in a way it does have to do with the topic... even when we fail or life doesn't go how we planned, we have to remember God's not a distant "luck charm", but and ACTIVE LIVING GOD who wants our love and desires our praise even through the worst of times. If this struggle has made you feel distant from God, know that you are not too far gone. (IDK. does it work with the topic at all???? ehhh. whatevzzz)
    Some random chick
    Re: Heather
    on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 12:05 am
    Aww :( I'm sorry! :( Well I'm glad you shared this with us, hopefully your story will touch someone else and make them realize they shouldn't send pics of themselves to people they don't know on the Internet. And hey, at least you didn't send the guy a naked pic! But anyway, it'll be okay! Just ask God to comfort you as you deal with the after-feelings of what you did. (: <3
    Jessi
    Heather
    on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 10:38 am
    You are so right about being careful online. I remember reading a story about a man who chatted with a girl and pretended to be her age & stuff. Anyways, although she didn't tell him where she lived or anything, she gave away little bits of information and that made it veerryy easy to find her. It all turned out for the best since he was actually a police officer and came to her house to warn her & her parents about being careful. There are creeps out there.
    Thank you Erin and all the other ladies for making this site safe!
    Hizgirl4ever
    heather
    on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 10:46 am
    Heather, this is a hard situation.

    I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW, YOU ARE NOT STUPID!!! You actually have done much better than some girls would have. You saw it for what it is/was! You are wanting to STOP it. You are looking for advice from others, but I also know that you need to come to God for this. He is the only One who can help you through this. You can get advice, but that is all it is, advice.

    Have you talked to him in the last week or so? I would cut off all communication with him. I know you are going to feel bad. But. I also know that this is a dangerous situation!!!

    I would think and pray about this!!

    I don't think this is off topic. Don't JUST ask God to help you through, THANK Him for letting you have an experience like this!! I know that He didn't want you in this circumstance, but he also wanted you to learn a lesson.

    Here are some verses:

    "Matthew 6:13
    And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." - the Lords Prayer. Use this at any situation, whether big or small. He WILL listen!

    "Deuteronomy 8:2
    And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no." - He uses tough situations to harden you faith. I was told "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" This is totally true in this situation as well. When you don't get hurt by temptations when you flee them, you learn what not to do next time, and to look to GOD before you do ANYTHING. Even things as simple as "should I take this last piece of cake?" If you learn to ask him to help you in small situations like this, when the hard ones, like yours, come, you won't think twice!

    "Psalm 18:2
    The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." - I think this one speaks for it's self!

    "Psalm 71:1
    In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion." - I would pray this often. I know that the world makes things seem so innocent! But, it's not!!! I myself don't listen to the modern secular music. Now, that doesn't mean it's not tempting, because "everyone else does it". THAT'S THE LIE!!! That's what the world want's you to think!!!

    "Proverbs 3:5
    Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." - This conforms my last input!!

    "Isaiah 26:4
    Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:" - So true!!!!

    "Proverbs 1:5-7
    A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."



    These are just a sample of the WONDERFUL words the Bible has for us!! I would encourage you to pray and to read those beautiful words of wisdom and love.

    With the Lords Love,

    Hizgirl

    (Molly)
    Heather
    Re:
    on Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 4:32 pm
    Marz, Some Random Chick, Jessi, Hizgirl4ever (Molly): Thank you for your comforting words. I appreciate it =)

    @Some Random Chick: Yes! That's exactly what I'm hoping for- That this story will reach other naive girls so that they won't make the same mistake I did. That's exactly the reason I posted this story even though it didn't have a thing to do with the topic. I wasn't going to say anything, but I thought that if I'm 19-years-old and am foolish enough to do something like that, imagine what the innocent younger girls of LYWB would do in the same situation!!!

    @Jessi: You're right. I've heard TONS of stories like that, and sometimes they end very, very bad.

    - Never talk to someone online you don't know, even if they seem like they are being nice to you.
    - Never give out your name, especially your last name. Or your address. Don't even mention what state you live in!!!!!
    - Never send anyone any pictures (even ones that aren't of you). ****I heard a story about a girl who sent a pic to this dude, but in the background was a street sign, tiny and unreadable. Apparently this guy was able to zoom into the pic so far that he could read the street sign, and he knew approximately where the young girl was located.
    You can decipher a lot about a person from the photos. If you send a pic to someone, and they see airy wicker furniture, a surfboard, and sandals kicked on the floor all in the background somewhere, they can be pretty sure that you live near the coast, and depending on the slang that you use to speak with them online, they can tell if you're east coast or west coast.
    It's so easy for someone to find you!!! You might think that I'm being crazy extreme right now, but it's no joke. It's sooooo easy for someone to track you. That's why it's best to never, EVER send a pic of yourself online, ever!!! Never. Ever. Ever ever ever ever ever never in forever never.

    And I'm not saying that every kind online stranger is out to get you. I mean, we're all strangers to each other (kinda), aren't we? But we're all good people. All I'm saying is that it's better to be safe than sorry.

    Like Jessi said, thank you Erin and co. for making LYWB safe and anonymous <3333

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