i still don't understand the correlation between man's initiative and God's sovereignty.
(note: see? i've already got the order wrong - that started with 'i' and 'man', it doesn't just end but begins too with God's sovereignty)
sentences like - 'God is sovereign, but man is responsible'
it confuses me in relation to the need for man to seek God. if we didn't or had no desire to seek Him or know we have to seek Him and put Him first but continue relishing self-throne status or the world continues to be such a necessary part of our life or we aren't willing to be humble... (there are so many 'or's)
...would God still have mercy on us?
what if you didn't know the gravity or precariousness of our plight? what if you know all the bible verses (to seek, to love, to trust, to live righteously) but they are just rules or ideals or best-case-scenario-human-being-but-everyone-is-fallible-anyway?
does it mean that you'll just have to wait till God throws you in some hot pot of trial, pain or sorrow before you cry out, 'O God! I can't do this by myself anymore... help me!' before understanding the need and urgency for our dependence on God?
...but sometimes(oftentimes) even (especially?) during times of trial we still try to rely on ourselves and that sinking ship, and rather than turing to God, we rail at him in anger, in distress, in frustration. does He wait for all the above to be spent before He approaches us?
to me, i think it is important to find the Rock before the storm. to sometimes make a choice even before the waves dash us against the treacherous underlying rocks that our eyes keep us blind to... because when all is uncertain, you still have made that choice - Christ is my Saviour and my Lord.
...but, even if one makes that choice before anything hits... it doesn't mean that you will face less storms, it won't mean that when the storm hits you'll remember your choice, but remembering that God is sovereign and Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose." might make things slightly easier to bear? (yoke is easy, burden is light)
what of those who started our passionate in service or with a clear aim to be single-minded in love, but forget along the way? and get caught up in all that prideful squabbling over every square inch? my dad says, if they remember the first purpose to love that would not happen. would it?
i don't know.
there is no clear answer to these things. there is only one word - 'grace'. even to the lost sheep who persists in being lost, or to the angry, bitter sheep, as much as to the sheep who looks at Him with trusting eyes... God's grace - his rod and staff - in His time, place and purpose.
for in His own way, God has already found us.
(note: see? i've already got the order wrong - that started with 'i' and 'man', it doesn't just end but begins too with God's sovereignty)
sentences like - 'God is sovereign, but man is responsible'
it confuses me in relation to the need for man to seek God. if we didn't or had no desire to seek Him or know we have to seek Him and put Him first but continue relishing self-throne status or the world continues to be such a necessary part of our life or we aren't willing to be humble... (there are so many 'or's)
...would God still have mercy on us?
what if you didn't know the gravity or precariousness of our plight? what if you know all the bible verses (to seek, to love, to trust, to live righteously) but they are just rules or ideals or best-case-scenario-human-being-but-everyone-is-fallible-anyway?
does it mean that you'll just have to wait till God throws you in some hot pot of trial, pain or sorrow before you cry out, 'O God! I can't do this by myself anymore... help me!' before understanding the need and urgency for our dependence on God?
...but sometimes(oftentimes) even (especially?) during times of trial we still try to rely on ourselves and that sinking ship, and rather than turing to God, we rail at him in anger, in distress, in frustration. does He wait for all the above to be spent before He approaches us?
to me, i think it is important to find the Rock before the storm. to sometimes make a choice even before the waves dash us against the treacherous underlying rocks that our eyes keep us blind to... because when all is uncertain, you still have made that choice - Christ is my Saviour and my Lord.
...but, even if one makes that choice before anything hits... it doesn't mean that you will face less storms, it won't mean that when the storm hits you'll remember your choice, but remembering that God is sovereign and Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose." might make things slightly easier to bear? (yoke is easy, burden is light)
what of those who started our passionate in service or with a clear aim to be single-minded in love, but forget along the way? and get caught up in all that prideful squabbling over every square inch? my dad says, if they remember the first purpose to love that would not happen. would it?
i don't know.
there is no clear answer to these things. there is only one word - 'grace'. even to the lost sheep who persists in being lost, or to the angry, bitter sheep, as much as to the sheep who looks at Him with trusting eyes... God's grace - his rod and staff - in His time, place and purpose.
for in His own way, God has already found us.
posted by zilch at 1:51 PM
1 Comments:
How much is seeking God our responsibility? Where does the desire to seek God come from in the first place..? I can think none else but from the Originator of Life and Thought Himself...
I've often pictured myself chasing after an elusive God...throwing tantrums in the times I can't comprehend why He would choose to reveal Himself to some in some ways and not to others. Would not a rational God desire to make known Himself to those who seek?
And then.
I got reminded in BS prep for the kids.
"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us..."
God loves us; not us, Him.
God pursues us; not us, Him.
Christian evangelist, Vincent Donovan's words to a pagan Masai warrior:
"Ole Sikii, you have tried as hard as a man can try. You left your father and family and home and went in search of God up that terrible mountain. You tracked and followed him to his lair, like a lion tracks a wildebeeste. But all this time he has been tracking you. You did not send for me or look me up. I was sent to you. You thought you were searching for Engai (God in native tongue). All this time he has been searching for you. God is more beautiful and loving than even you imagined. He hungered for you, Ole Sikii. Try as we might, we cannot reach up by brute force and drag God down from the heavens. He is already here. He has found you. In truth, Ole Sikii, we are not the Lion looking for God. God is the lion looking for us. Believe me, the lion is God."
I concur with you girl...GRACE is it in a word. :)
-rach-
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