My Father's Heart...
OK, I know I seem to be harping on the wrath issue lately...I ask for grace. Since I am "detoxing" as Melanie so aptly described it, I have to have a place to put all of this processing...My blog is a great place! You lucky readers!
I was talking to a dear friend of mine this week and she made a comment that at first I wanted to agree with and then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I have absolutely no interest in agreeing with it. She said she loves to read the stories in the Old Testament of God's wrath...When he takes out a village, she says happily - "Yeah, that's my dad!"
Now, I understand where she is coming from - we do have a big, strong daddy who is just and righteous who takes out evil...But I just can't be down with gloating when people went against God's plan so many times that he saw it better to destroy them than to let them continue on. I don't believe God takes pleasure in that...I think it breaks his heart. God forgive me if I ever smile at the destruction of anyone. It clearly states in Scripture that we are to desire for the destruction of evil - the spiritual rulers of this world - NOT people. People are meant to be God's joy. If God shared with us what his heart felt like any time evil led to the death of even a single person, I don't think we'd be able to bear it. Multiply that by the population of a village and it's unfathomable.
We're doing a study on the book of Luke at church. Tim challenged us to make sure that we truly know, deep down in our hearts that God loves us. Individually, not collectively...That means I have to truly be able to say that I believe with everything in me that my Father God loves ME, Helen Ann Luther Betz with everything in Him. And to trust that he works for my good in all things.
As I wrestle with that I realize it is only from that place that I believe I can properly see the old testament wrath stories in the way they are meant to be seen: Tragedies, not triumphs.
On the surface, I want to cheer when the Egyptian army is swallowed up in the red sea. But if I go deeper I realize that God knew and loved each one of those people in that army. It was never his desire for them to be on the other end of his will. That was not pleasurable for God. But it was necessary for the redemptive plan he had set into motion. God never stopped loving his creation - even when it went awry.
That brings me to another good point that Tim made: It is God's self-sacrificing love that humbles...Not his wrath. It took me a minute to wrap my mind around that...Then it clicked...See, your basic evil spirit can bring destruction. I am more disturbed by that than I am humbled. But when I think that God gave Jesus to be slaughtered so my sorry ass could be free, just because he loved me that much, I am humbled.
I mean really - who am I that He is mindful of me?
I was talking to a dear friend of mine this week and she made a comment that at first I wanted to agree with and then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I have absolutely no interest in agreeing with it. She said she loves to read the stories in the Old Testament of God's wrath...When he takes out a village, she says happily - "Yeah, that's my dad!"
Now, I understand where she is coming from - we do have a big, strong daddy who is just and righteous who takes out evil...But I just can't be down with gloating when people went against God's plan so many times that he saw it better to destroy them than to let them continue on. I don't believe God takes pleasure in that...I think it breaks his heart. God forgive me if I ever smile at the destruction of anyone. It clearly states in Scripture that we are to desire for the destruction of evil - the spiritual rulers of this world - NOT people. People are meant to be God's joy. If God shared with us what his heart felt like any time evil led to the death of even a single person, I don't think we'd be able to bear it. Multiply that by the population of a village and it's unfathomable.
We're doing a study on the book of Luke at church. Tim challenged us to make sure that we truly know, deep down in our hearts that God loves us. Individually, not collectively...That means I have to truly be able to say that I believe with everything in me that my Father God loves ME, Helen Ann Luther Betz with everything in Him. And to trust that he works for my good in all things.
As I wrestle with that I realize it is only from that place that I believe I can properly see the old testament wrath stories in the way they are meant to be seen: Tragedies, not triumphs.
On the surface, I want to cheer when the Egyptian army is swallowed up in the red sea. But if I go deeper I realize that God knew and loved each one of those people in that army. It was never his desire for them to be on the other end of his will. That was not pleasurable for God. But it was necessary for the redemptive plan he had set into motion. God never stopped loving his creation - even when it went awry.
That brings me to another good point that Tim made: It is God's self-sacrificing love that humbles...Not his wrath. It took me a minute to wrap my mind around that...Then it clicked...See, your basic evil spirit can bring destruction. I am more disturbed by that than I am humbled. But when I think that God gave Jesus to be slaughtered so my sorry ass could be free, just because he loved me that much, I am humbled.
I mean really - who am I that He is mindful of me?
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