Messiah Complex

We lift a disapproving brow at those fickle disciples who turned away from Jesus when He didn't turn out to be the kind of messiah they were looking for. He didn't live up to their expectations. They thought they knew what a messiah was supposed to do. He would make life easier, give them what they wanted, and act like a Messiah should act. Instead, Jesus hung around with the wrong people, never challenged the oppressive government, and after three years they were all still broke. They stood face-to-face with God, but he was not what they had in mind.

Don't we do the same thing? Sometimes it is hard to admit that the real Jesus is not what we had in mind either. He doesn't act like we think he should. He didn't heal that sickness. He didn't provide the raise, cancel the divorce, or keep the wayward child from destruction. Isn't that what God is for? Isn't that why we trusted in him in the first place? Aren't there rules he's obligated to keep so we can predict his next move?
It is not until life has shattered our ideas of who we thought God was 
that we can really find Him. 

We are then forced to reckon with all that unpleasantness about dying to self, giving up our will, and being faithful unto death. We discover that total surrender means we don't get to help Him be God.

Turns out He was never created in our image at all. He doesn't have to explain Himself or even make sense to our finite minds. He is not bound by our paltry attempts at faith nor subject to our desires. That's why he introduced Himself as the I AM. He has no description.

When we admit that the Great I AM is not who we we had in mind either, we can toss out our self-centered expectations. It's OK to start over and get to know Him for who he really is. He's waiting for us to come to that point. It was in the Bible all along, but we skimmed over that part. As our understanding deepens, we realize how much we skimmed over. He reveals Himself to our newly-humbled spirits and see finally understand that there is only one way to be God and He's doing it. 

It is not until we stop dictating what a God should be like that we can truly love the One who IS.
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