Up For the Challenge?

Someone very dear to me recently asked me a good question: Have you ever challenged God?

"Well, like you tell God if He make this happen, then you will do something."

When I just began to know Jesus, I always challenge him that way. For example, I remember vividly saying to him that if he helped me get back this deposit I paid to my college, I will give it all in offering on Sunday. There are many more challenges I gave him, and some really put me to shame :P

My first ever challenge to God was this - that He show me that He is real, because I really wanted to know if He is real. Guess what? He did show up, and so did the many times I challenged Him. But the question is, did I keep my part of the bargain all the time? You can guess the answer to that...

I don't know when was the point in time that I stopped challenging God already. It felt like ages since I last did that. The Bible said to not put God to test (Deuteronomy 6:16). But I stopped challenging God not because of that verse, rather, I stopped because as I grew closer to God and got to know Him so much more.

I was such an idiot to challenge God :P I am just a human being that's full with flaws and incapable in so many ways. To challenge a God who is All-Mighty, All-Powerful, All-Knowing and who created this universe is really an idiotic attempt that is doomed to failure without exception. HAHA.

There is really no point in challenging God. Nothing is too difficult for Him (Genesis 18:14), and nothing is impossible for Him (Luke 1:37). I've learnt that in challenging God, I am just using it as an excuse to either not believe in Him or not obeying Him, putting the blame on Him instead of trusting in Him and His goodness & faithfulness. In other words, I am masking my lack of faith with seemingly reasonable request for God to show up first, when in fact He is already there.

Throughout my months of walking with God, I picked up that by challenging God, I am actually putting myself to a test that will not do me any good in the long run. With each challenge I put to God, I am showing to Him that I am not a person who can be trusted with the bigger things that God has in store for me because I don't trust Him.

It's like a father who is and will be giving the son the best things already simply because the father loves the son. But one day the son came to him and said "Dad, why don't you help my business prosper, and then I will acknowledge that you love me." Can you imagine the hurt to the father's heart when he hears that?

The truth that doesn't change is that God loves us and God's nature is to bless and to give without holding back. Only He knows what is best for us, and when is the right timing to give us bigger things as only He will know when we are ready and responsible enough to handle the bigger things that He will eventually give to us. But when we challenge Him, we are belittle-ing how big He is and how powerful He is, pulling Him down to our wordly standards instead of lifting our expectations to His level.

Shortly said, God is definitely and is always up for the challenge. But are we up for the challenge?