How many times have you heard someone says something like, “My child was sick and I said, ‘God if you are up there, please heal my child.’ No healing. So as far as I’m concerned, no God.” The phrase for this: transactional theology. Let it be stated clearly and understood deeply: there is no quid pro quo with God. He is “the Most High over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18 ESV).
Nothing stunts spiritual development more than a flea market view of God. If we think he is puny enough to need our help, to negotiate with us, we’ll soon abandon our pursuit of him. If, on the other hand, we see God as he truly is – holy and high apart, transcendent and resplendent – then we will spend a lifetime doing what we will do for eternity—exploring the beauty and riches of our heavenly Father. God never gives up on you.
