Menlo Church

And the challenge is that we want God to cooperate with our desires. We want his presence, but we also want our control. We want him close, but only if he moves in our direction. We want miracles, but on our timeline. We want blessings without surrender. Really, every religion has the same path to salvation that sounds something like this. Do the work, climb the ladder, follow the rules, and you'll earn your outcome. And if you do all of that work and suffering still comes to your doorstep, you will feel enraged. You will feel cheated. You will feel like God owes you, or you'll turn all of those feelings inward and assume that you failed somewhere along the line. The furnace, that furnace, will destroy your soul.