All you have to do is rub the lamp and out will pop a genie who will
grant you three wishes (as long as they aren't about falling in love,
killing someone or having more wishes!) I wonder how many times you
have thought what your three wishes would be?
Of course, most of us would say that we want our loved ones to be
safe; or a cure for various diseases; or perhaps world peace. But
deep down there is a temptation to ask for power or wealth or beauty,
and given the choice I don't know whether I would be able to resist
the opportunity for selfish gain – and I suspect I'm not alone!
I also suspect that often we think of God as being like that genie;
someone who we go to as a last resort when we can't solve things
ourselves and expect him to grant our every wish. The Rogation Days are the traditional days of asking God's blessings on our world and our
work. However, if we do think of God as some sort of divine vending
machine then we will be disappointed. And that disappointment might
be the reason some people don't believe in God. It probably isn't
because he hasn't given us a fast car, or the winning lottery
numbers, but more likely it will be because he hasn't answered a
genuine prayer, perhaps to save a loved one from dying.
When I studied Judaism, the rabbi who was teaching us said that in
classic Judaism the answer to the problem “why does God allow
suffering?” is “God is God and he can do what he wants”!
Although it is not a completely satisfying answer to the the problem
it does give a helpful steer, especially if we don't hear it as being
“God is a totalitarian despot.” Instead it invites us to see the
problem in the light of who God is.
God
is neither a despotic God, for whom we are merely playthings, nor is
he a genie God, who is entirely at our command. God reveals himself
in the Bible as being all-powerful and all-knowing but he is also
all-loving. Jesus encourages us to pray saying “Ask and it will be
given to you” but qualifies it by going on to say “If
you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to
those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7 and 11). The two important parts
of that verse are that God is our Father who longs to give us good
gifts.
Just as children don't
always know what's best for them and can get upset when they don't
get what they ask for, so too we don't always know what's best for us
and often have imperfect motives. God is perfect and knows what we
need before we ask (Matthew 6:32), so if he doesn't give us what we
ask for, we can be confident that it is because he loves us and wants
what's best for us, not because he doesn't care for us or we don't
have enough faith. This side of death we will never fully understand
God's purposes but we should be confident to pray, as Jesus did “thy
will be done.” That prayer lead Jesus to the cross, but he went
willingly knowing that through his death he “led many of God’s
children to be saved and to share in his glory “ (Hebrews 2:10
Contemporary English Version.)
