GOD IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM | Living In The Balance Of Grace And Faith By Andrew Wommack

GOD IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM

Although it’s a major doctrine in the body of Christ, there are only two places in scripture where predestination is mentioned: Romans 8:29-30 and Ephesians 1:5 and 11. Some people, however, believe that God has predestined everything.

Romans 8:29 says:

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might he the firstborn among many brethren.

The key to understanding predestination is to understand that God only predestined those whom He foreknew. Foreknowledge refers to God’s ability to know the future. Only people He already knew would accept Jesus have been predestined. Nobody has been predestined to be saved or lost. But once you become born again, God has predetermined— predestined—that you will be conformed to the image of His Son. If you don’t cooperate in this life, then it will happen when He comes.

When we see Jesus…

We shall he like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2

If you will cooperate with the Lord, then you can start being like Him here in this life. You can start walking in joy, peace, victory, anointing, and power. If you’ve been born again, it’s predetermined that you will ultimately be like Jesus. If you’ll cooperate, you can experience that here in this life to the degree that you renew your mind. If you don’t cooperate, you’ll eventually be like Jesus anyway because you’ll be like Him when He comes. You’re predestined to be. That’s all that verse means.

GOOD PLANS

God didn’t predestinate anyone to be a mess. He didn’t predetermine anybody to be a failure.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Jeremiah 29:11

God has good plans for you. He has a plan and a destiny for every person. You didn’t happen accidentally. Whether your parents knew you were

coming or not, God knew. He has a plan for you, and He didn’t plan for anyone to be mediocre or a failure. God didn’t plan the hurt and heartache that you’ve experienced. He didn’t plan the tragedy. If you had a terrible childhood, it wasn’t God who caused that

to happen. It happened because people made poor choices using the free will God gave them.

People have made wrong choices and sometimes you suffer because of those choices, but God didn’t determine this. He doesn’t control people like chess pieces and make everything happen. If you’ve had terrible tragedies happen in your life, God didn’t cause them.

I take great comfort in knowing that God is a good God. My dad died when I was twelve years old, but God didn’t kill him. I’ve had a lot of negative circumstances happen in my life. I’ve been stolen from, lied about, kidnapped, blacklisted, spit on, and much, much more. Those things happened to me, but God didn’t order them. He’s not the One who caused my problems. At the very least it was the devil, and at least half the time, I was cooperating somehow to bring them to pass. It blesses me to know that God is not my problem.

God is not your problem either. It’s just not all up to Him. Grace is what God does for you independent of you, but you don’t experience the goodness of God’s grace in your life unless you learn some things and know how to cooperate with Him. As you continue

reading this book, you’ll learn more truths which will help you better understand what is God’s part and what is your part. Grasping these truths will help you put your faith in what God has done instead of mistakenly placing your faith in what you have done. It will help you understand the power and authority that God has given you, and will give you some answers that will really make a difference in your life.

REACH OUT AND TAKE IT

In my own personal life, if I hadn’t corrected my understanding, I never would have seen anywhere near as much as I have. The things of God don’t come to pass automatically. If you don’t pursue them, you won’t get them. You must pursue the things of God.

Take, for instance, the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Many people have told me, “If God wants me to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues, I’m ready. It’s just up to Him. If He wants to give it to me, I’ll get it.” That’s not how it happens. You can’t just say, “If God wants me to be saved, I’ll receive. It’s just up to Him.” No, you must believe!

I remember sitting in the very back of the church auditorium one day as a boy in Vacation Bible School. The man up front took something out of his wallet and announced, “I’ll give this dollar bill to the first kid who comes up here and takes it.” Instantly,

there were twenty or thirty kids jumping up and down around him saying, “I want it, I want it!” I was thinking, This is the worst time to be sitting in the back row (my family normally sat in the front). However, this guy ignored those kids, kept his hand up in the air, and repeated, “I’ll give this dollar bill to the first kid who comes up here and takes it.” All of us in the crowd were wondering, What’s he saying? All of those kids up there jumping around him wanted it.

After he had said a third time, “I’ll give this dollar bill to the first kid who comes up here and takes it,” it finally hit me what he meant. I leaped off of my chair and ran all the way down to the front. Pushing my way through those kids, I grabbed the man’s arm, climbed up his side, and snatched the dollar bill out of his hand. When I did, he looked at me and said, “Now you’re the first kid who came up here and took it.” Looking at the other kids, he said, “All of you wanted it, and it was available, but you have to reach out and take it.” Then he taught us how receiving salvation is like that.

God has already provided the forgiveness of sins for every person, but it doesn’t just automatically come to pass. It’s not just grace alone that saves you. You must believe. You have to reach out and take hold of your salvation. You must come against the thoughts that the devil puts in your mind saying, “God couldn’t love you that way. You’re too ungodly,” and so on. You have to fight through those things and persevere.

You must reach out and by faith declare, “I believe what God’s Word says,” and take hold of the grace God is offering. It doesn’t come to pass automatically.

IT’S YOUR CHOICE

The principle is the same with everything else in the Christian life. God has already made provision. How long will you sit there, saying, “Que sera, sera.

Whatever will be, will be,” all the while blaming God for the mess your life is in? It is time for you to stand up and declare, “The Lord has provided something better for me than this. Praise God, I’m going to find out what my part is, do what God has told me to do, and receive His miraculous power.” It’s your choice.