God vs. Google

My last post and this one are from a discussion I had with two ladies last weekend about men, their relationships with their loved ones, themselves and with God. A question that arose was

“So Danzo, how do men keep themselves in check? Men who live by values, how do they ensure that they keep the values and the big picture on focus?”

Here was my attempt, trying not to sound like “Pastor Danzo”

Short answer : In my opinion most men are, by default, on a free-fall. Finding themselves in one crisis or another, many brought on them by themselves and a few by other men around them.

Long answer :

God knows how he created us and treats us with that in mind

One of my favourite verses in the Bible is James 1:5. I play around with it a lot. There are many words that could have been left out, but they were not. Every word in that verse adds more value and meaning to it. Look at the differences in the following options.

1. If any of you lacks wisdom, it will be given to you

We are by nature inclined towards looking for and achieving anything we feel we lack. No man finds it easy to admit not having wisdom. We hate looking stupid. We hate looking stupid so much we look stupid trying not to look stupid. Being in a class learning something is in itself evidence that we do not know it and that we are there to learn. One of the things I love about google is that you can go to it privately without looking or feeling foolish and ask what we need more information about. I think many of us would cringe if wikileaks revealed the things we have googled in our lifetime.

2. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you

God is the source of true wisdom (sorry google, you do not compare to God). We may look in many places for wisdom but it is only found in Him. What we find in other places may look like wisdom but earthly wisdom does not compare to Godly wisdom.

3. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously, and it will be given to you.

God gives, and he gives generously. The only thing that God doesn’t give generously is the punishment we truly deserve. Everything about God is generous, grand, abundant, great and amazing. When you think about the sand in the sea, the stars in the sky, the waters of the oceans, the air we breathe. There is nothing kidogo about the way God operates. God doesn’t sprinkle, He lavishes, he doesn’t hold back any good thing from those who love His ways. Ps. 84:11.

4. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all, and it will be given to you.

He gives to all. Not just to me or those like me. To all. There is no difference. He favours no one. He is no respecter of persons. When we go to Him, no one deserves or is worthy of wisdom more than the other. We are all the same in His eyes. The sun rises for everyone, including the idiot next to you, whether you like it or not.

5. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all, without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Can you imagine if google laughed at us before giving us answers? Someone once told me “kuuliza si ujinga, aulizaye ndiye mjinga”, loosely translated, there are no stupid questions, only stupid people. Before God we are naked. We cannot hide anything from him. We cannot pretend to know without him noticing it.

Tuendelee kuongea