THE DANGER OF AN IF-THEN BELIEF SYSTEM

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him! Listen carefully to what I say; let my words ring in your ears. Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated. Can anyone bring charges against me? If so, I will be silent and die.”

“Only grant me these two things, God, and then I will not hide from you: Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors. Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply to me. How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin. Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? Will you torment a windblown leaf? Will you chase after dry chaff? For you write down bitter things against me and make me reap the sins of my youth. You fasten my feet in shackles; you keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet.”

“So man wastes away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.”

 Job 13:14-28

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

From the first words Job spoke after his affliction into this passage from Chapter 13, Job has maintained his innocence before God, feeling as if he was placed into suffering unjustly by God without a chance to defend himself. His thought was that if he could have a chance to just state his case, then God would surely withdraw his afflictions.

In other words, Job had allowed himself to enter into an if-then belief system.

We see further evidence of this in the scriptures from Chapter 13. For after Job again asserts that no godless person would ever be crazy enough to want to go before God (and you’ll remember that Job considered himself a perfectly righteous and blameless man of God) and is certain about his vindication from God, he states the following:

“Only grant me these two things, God, and then I will not hide from you: Withdraw Your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with Your terrors. Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and You reply to me.”

Note the if-then here. If God would withdraw His hand far from Job and stop terrorizing him, then Job would not hide from Him. With that deal struck, then Job told God to summon him so they could enter into dialogue about his condition.

 Do you see what is going on here? Can you discern the danger of an if-then belief system?

Job is setting the conditions and dictating to God. And we all have maybe been guilty of doing the same thing.

This begs the money ball question: Does anyone have a right to dictate God’s actions?

The answer is a resounding “no”. God is God and we are subordinate to Him. It was that way in the garden when God created Adam and Eve and it hasn’t changed a bit since then.

And yet, we too often fall into the same trap that Job fell into. Instead of coming before God in humble reverence and humility, understanding who we are before Him while professing our belief and trust in Him no matter what our circumstances with the confidence that He will see us through in accordance with His will, we too often take the approach that we will exchange something if God would just remove us from our circumstances.

“I promise God that I will manage my money better next time if you would just remove my debt from me.”

“I promise God that I will no longer pursue sexual immorality and adultery if you would please just bring my wife or husband (whichever applies) back to me.”

“I promise God that I will never drink another drop of alcohol and then drive if you would just release me from this prison cell and set me free again.”

There are countless examples where people repeat Job’s mistake and lose their bearing about their relationship with the Almighty God and Master of all. And I wonder what God thinks about some of these foolish words when they are spoken or thought.  

Friends, in the end, the only appropriate if-then scenarios are the ones that God Himself proposes, such as:

“If you, my child or my people, do this (fill in God’s direction), then I will do this (God’s promise).”

The Bible is full of these and we should pay attention every time we see them. Our response to God’s if-then propositions should come down to two words: submission and obedience.

That’s the way it works.

God tells us what to do and we do it.

No questioning…no negotiating…just active response to God’s commands.

It’s really as simple as that. Job needs to figure it out…and so do we.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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