Lately I have been realizing the mega distance between our ways and thoughts compared to God’s. If you believe from what He has said in the Bible that He is omniscient, omnipresent, and all powerful…how can one believe that they fully know the mind and purposes of God? We walk by faith, not by sight.
While personal faith leads to knowing God and the “beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10), the longer I have lived and contemplated God the less I know for sure and the greater mystery He becomes. While I have experienced life changing faith surrounding the resurrection of Jesus the Christ and His revelations to me…I can in no way claim any special knowledge or understanding of His ways. I can only begin to understand the purposes of why bad things happen to good people. That seems to be the biggest hurdle for many of us humans to get over when it comes to trusting in God. We just don’t, and probably never will, understand bad things happening to good people.
Based on these experiences in faith, it becomes MORE difficult for me to digest the many arrogant religionists around me claiming to have some unique or inside track on knowing the “power of God” or His Holy Spirit. It seems many new movements claiming to be part of Christendom are attempting to take the awe and majesty of God, the supreme power of the universe, and relegate Him into a potion bottle made of their own imagination or making themselves the unique conduit for His power and presence “in the moment”. I think this is dangerous business.
Fundamentally, I embrace any Christian that is INCLUSIVE in their faith and accepts “anyone who will believe in Christ”. Yet it has become anathema to me to accept any message regarding Jesus that is exclusive, adding or subtracting from the fundamental Gospel of Jesus. To listen to some preachers, you might understand them to be saying, “Hear the GOOD NEWS of Jesus…you are going to hell!”. Quite presumptuous at the least to make that judgment over ANYONE because, 1) you don’t know the heart and soul of that person and their calling in life, and 2) YOU are not judge of any soul…only God knows who is going to hell or not.
The hardest thing to grasp in American style Christianity is the idea that “salvation” is something I decide to receive or refuse. Current times see Christianity taught as a simple 1-2-3 step program featuring a prayer for forgiveness of our sins, a quick thank you verbally, and then on our merry way to live as we wish…forgiven but not changed. This is not the Christianity of Jesus’ disciples or the early church and from what Jesus said, there will be many assumptive “Christians” at the final judgment surprised that they are not part of the new kingdom Jesus is establishing upon His return to earth (Luke 17). I interpret those surprised people as being those who think that THEY determine who gets in or out of the kingdom based on signs and wonders performed through THEM. We see this constantly on Christian TV stations with those who use the faith to milk ignorant followers out of their earthly money and possessions with promises of earthly riches, signs and wonders. I predict they will be of those to whom Jesus will say, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity. I never knew you” (Matthew 7:21-23).
There are three kinds of sins that can separate us from God…sins against ourselves and our own bodies, against others, and against God directly by unbelief. We don’t need a Bible to know what sin is because as Romans 1 states, we all know because His law is “written in our hearts”. Where God’s mystery comes in to play is who, how, and when He chooses to convict us and forgive us of our sins. The Bible is full of examples of the diversity of God’s plans, and He isn’t predictable by our standards.
In Biblical history some people were instantly dealt with because of their sins, such as Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11), the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-28), and various kingdoms that stood against God’s chosen Israelites. Others seemed to be called out of their confusion and conflicts, forgiven by God, and went on to do His will as imperfect leaders for a specific task or purpose. It is obvious that God is a “cause and effect” God, yet sometimes makes exceptions. Who is to know the mind of God or predict His actions? Yet there are many today who claim to hear from Him audibly and tell the rest of us what we should be doing. Based on how many of those have fallen spiritually or literally in recent years, I think each of us had better stand on our own two feet before God and seek Him directly…not through any cultish man or woman.
Meanwhile I continue to be humbled as I look back through the decades of my life and see so many times and things I did that I should be punished for. I HAVE paid a price for many of my actions, but once I address these things brought to my mind by God’s Spirit I eventually come to a point of confession, repentance, and forgiveness that only a loving Father can teach us. If God was the legalistic, judgmental tyrant that many preach today, I would have no hope to stand before Him on that day as one of His sheep.
The deeper we go in pursuit of God, the more we realize how unfathomable are His ways for human understanding. Sometimes He lets us wallow in our sin and other times He intervenes miraculously. Either way, His message is always a simple “trust in me”. I don’t know why He is so unpredictable, but the only thing He has said we can predict about Him is His righteousness, truthfulness, and benevolence towards those He chooses to redeem. I get it that many believers want to think THEY had the power to choose and be righteous, but the more you take all scripture in context the more you realize that HE does the choosing. HE is the one who has predestined those covered by grace and mercy. We have nothing to be proud or haughty about regarding our salvation and redemption from sin. HE does it all once we submit to HIS will over our own. The reality also is that this is not a one time process, but a DAILY one of submitting our ways to His. It is fully like a relationship to our earthly fathers. We love and accept their guidance, or we typically pay a price for not doing so. That price is usually a break in the relationship and/or failing miserably in life.
Glory be to God for all HE has done. I am nothing apart from identifying as His son and I follow Him only by faith…like I would any faithful earthly father. My mysterious Heavenly Father does the rest to sustain and lead me for all eternity. It is only in His love and light that I thrive and have my being…even if I can never completely fathom all that He is or what He is doing.