God Is Not a Vending Machine

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A young pastor's wife and mother of four thought she

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was living the exact story she and God had agreed upon. Kara

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Tippetts and her husband were planting a church and serving

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selflessly in their community, and they were raising children

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to love Jesus. They were doing everything right. Subconsciously,

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many of us make a similar deal with God, don't we? If we serve

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faithfully and read our Bibles and live right, God will bless

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us and keep tragedy away. But then came a devastating doctor's

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appointment that changed everything. Kara was diagnosed

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with terminal breast cancer in her late thirties. As the

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disease slowly stripped away her energy and her ability to mother

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her young kids, she was faced with a crushing reality. Her

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desperate prayers for a cure weren't being answered. When

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your life falls apart despite your faithful obedience, why

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would you keep worshiping a God who seemingly doesn't hold up

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His end of the bargain?

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Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Leger. I've

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been a pastor for over 40 years, and over that time, I've come to

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learn that God really does know best. I've prayed some pretty

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audacious prayers that God chose not to answer the way I wanted.

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But looking back, I often had to admit that if God had given me

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what I wanted, based on previously unforeseen

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circumstances, things would have not worked out so well. We often

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fall into a mindset that derails many Christians. Many times,

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without realizing it, we have a transactional view of faith.

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It's so freeing to finally realize God loves us and wants

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the best for us. He's not obligated to grant every one of

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our requests just because we ask for it. True worship adores God

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for who He is, even when He chooses not to fulfill our every

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wish. Listen to the words in Job 1.21. After losing his wealth,

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his livelihood, and all of his children in a single day, this

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is what Job says. He said, I came naked from my mother's womb,

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and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and

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the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord. If

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anyone had the right to feel cheated by God, I believe it was

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Job.

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blameless man of complete integrity. He did everything

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right. He offered sacrifices and prayed, and he obeyed. He was

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holding up his end of the bargain perfectly. his faith

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would have been destroyed right there in the ashes. He would

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have felt completely short-changed. He would have

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probably cursed God and walked away. I've known so many who

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gave up on God. because he didn't come through at a

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critical time in their life the way they expected. They prayed

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so hard, and they believed. But Job understood something deeper.

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He recognized that God is not a cosmic vending machine. We don't

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insert our good works, our church attendance, our Bible

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reading like coins, press a button, and then watch our

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preferred blessings drop out. God is a sovereign creator, and

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he owes us nothing. Yet, out of his grace, he gives us exactly

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what we need, even if it looks very differently from what we

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asked for. When we treat God like a vending machine, we end

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up resenting him when the machine gets stuck. We start

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keeping a spiritual scorecard. Lord, I went on that mission

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trip. I forgave that person who hurt me. served in the church

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for decades. Why did I still lose my job? Why did the

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relationship not work out? Why am I the one who's sick? But

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true faith, the kind of faith that survives the darkest, most

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painful valleys, is anchored in the character of God, not in the

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comfort of our circumstances. When things showed no signs of

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getting better, Kara realized she had to let go of that

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transactional view of faith. In her book, The Hardest Peace, she

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wrote about discovering that God is not a cosmic vending machine

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where we put in our good deeds and pull out our desired

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blessings. He was not obligated to grant her request just

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because she asked for it. Instead of a contractor who

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shortchanged her, she found a loving father who was willing to

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sit intimately with her in the pain. She chose to simply love

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God for who He is, even when He chooses not to fulfill our every

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wish. You might be walking through a season right now where

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you feel God didn't hold up His end of the deal. You've been

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faithful, but life is still incredibly hard, and your

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prayers feel unanswered. Here's today's challenge. Take a moment

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today and honestly examine your heart. Are you serving a God for

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who He is, or are you secretly serving Him for what you hope

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He'll give you? I invite you to pray a prayer of complete

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surrender today. Lay down your scorecards, release your

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expectations, and choose to praise the name of the Lord, not

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just for what He does, but for who He is. Lord, forgive us for

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the times we treat you like a vending machine. We confess that

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it's so easy to fall into a transactional relationship with

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you, quietly expecting a pain-free life in exchange for

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our obedience. When life gets hard, help us to remember that

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your presence in the pain is a far greater gift than a life

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without struggles. Give us the faith of Job to say, praise the

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name of the Lord in every possible season. In Jesus' name,

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amen. If you're dealing with the pain of an unexpected trial and

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you feel disappointed with God right now, I would love to pray

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with you. Just leave me a voicemail at

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dailydevotionsforbusylives.com slash voicemail, and I'll pray

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for you by name. Thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions

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for Busy Lives. Remember, God is not a vending machine, but He is

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a loving Father who sits with you in the pain. Come back next

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time for more encouragement to help you live grounded in God's

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truth. Until then, God bless and have a great day.