When is it that people turn to God and ask for something? “Take this away from me, Lord!” “Do this thing for me, O God!” Usually people turn to the Lord and demand something from him whenever they are at their wits end and do not know where else to turn. It may seem as if they are relying on God’s goodness in order to get them through a particular situation, but in the end, it is merely that they have no where else to turn. Generally speaking, God is not our first recourse, sometimes not even our second or third. In most cases, God is our last resort; therefore, when a person turns to God in exasperation, it is simply out of a lack of options. Rest assured that if there was something else to try in this material world, that person would have most likely sought relief from that source.
Is this faith in God, or is this rather a pride in one’s own capabilities? I would argue that in the end, this turning to God as a last resort is a demonstration of one’s own pride in his or her ability to “handle things oneself.” We are called, however, to trust God wholeheartedly, to have a poverty of spirit. Jesus tells us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” When we develop a true poverty of spirit, when we learn to never rely on our own abilities without FIRST turning to God, then we can approach God with a sincere and steadfast confidence in his goodness and grace.
For this reason, Jesus tells the Israelites, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” Indeed the generation at the time of Jesus was an evil generation because it did not enjoy the poverty of spirit that is incumbent on a true child of God. The generation of Israelites exhibited a “gimme” attitude. “Gimme a sign.” “Gimme manna again.” “Gimme, gimme, gimme.” This mentality is once again a demonstration of pride in oneself—thinking that one’s deserves or has a right to a sign.
What their pride and their hardness of hearts led them to is to ignore the sign that was right before them, that is Christ Jesus himself. The Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah, the Queen of Sheba come from far off to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and yet Jesus is greater than Solomon and Jonah because he is the very source of the words they preached. Yet, the Israelites completely overlook Christ because they are too self-absorbed with their prideful demands for a sign.
Do we give the Lord the trust and the confidence that he deserves, or are we like the evil generation of Israelites? When we pray, dos we turn first to God before all else, or do we turn to him merely out of “last ditch effort?” Do we place more emphasis and trust in our own abilities and our own need to “figure things out,” or do we trust that God will lead us and speak to us in time? Let us seek to be humble in the sight of God, let us always empty ourselves of self-love, and let us foster that poverty of spirit that will lead us to the kingdom of heaven.