My Faithful friends:
This month of July has always been a special time of the year; celebrating the formation and then the maturity of two of the oldest republics in existence. It is still worth doing, and my family will continue to do so. Still there have been some events; perhaps we could call them catastrophes that have cast an unwanted gloomy darkness over this all. My faith and trust in God is deep and time tested, so will never be affected. Instead it is how others, our elected leaders, our media, and those considered the wisest have been presenting them selves. There’s just too much self-serving lying, and immaturity.
With such senseless tragedies, stupid governmental actions, or is it inaction, and the compounding of wrong headed policies I fear things are not going to get better. You see, I don’t like feeling melancholic and discouraged. I’m generally very optimistic. After all I’m a child of the King, and the inheritor, by His Spirit, of a great promise. I don’t like having to witnessing the pain of others, when the grief was preventable. I don’t like hearing the same old tired laments over how God shouldn’t allow these things, when God has left this to us. I don’t like how all this adversely effects those you love, distorts the future of our grandchildren, demoralizes friends, and even confuses the Church, when we know this is evil, and where it comes from. I don’t like a lot of things that are confusing and demoralizing our society, when obviously Christ is the answer.
The source of these feelings could be the inability of many to understand what is meant by “God’s will.” And even more not appreciating the full meaning of human “free will.” As Christians we should be aware that God’s purpose will be accomplished, yet we fail to appreciate fully what that is. God’s primary purpose was, is, and is to be, Jesus Christ. Paul makes that very clear; “…this grace was given to preach… the riches of Christ, to make all people see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God…that the wisdom of God might now be made known…this was according to the eternal purpose which He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in Him…” (Eph.3:8-12) I have compressed Paul’s point, to make my own; the purpose of God is “Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It is how He will accomplish His purpose, no matter what. “For the LORD of host has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?” (Isa.14:27). Nothing Satan attempts will thwart the plan and purpose of God. Yet, I fear many confuse that purpose, with what God wants to do in and through us. Whatever He desires in our lives must be done by our own free will. We are free moral agents, and this has always been a messy, convoluted, and imperfect means of accomplishing His will in us. Yet, this is what God wanted. It is why we are! Why we are made in His image as spiritual beings, eternal, able to give and receive love, and unfortunately also the opposite. This means “He wanted us free, even if evil resulted, rather than not free.”
This means we, in our many forms and actions, will do evil. Some do great evil, and we seem limited in our ability to eliminate it. Oh we want to, yet at one point we humans were so evil God repented of creating us at all and washed away an entire civilization. Have we improved any? We need to know God does not micromanage our lives to get His desired results from us. He works with us. I know we should desire closer supervision, still He chooses to allow us to do it on our own. We could seek His assistance, for He is there, and willing. But too often we fail to hear, or heed. That is why so much seems to be going wrong. Why we seem to be circling the drain, and nothing going well. Too many don’t want God in their lives, not even a little. And as this brokenness continues, and magnifies, we will see more broken, deranged and confused individuals who will break your heart, and mine, and the heart of our God. Yet for me, and for you I know “…He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil.1:6).
We have to note that it will be completed only on “The Day.” We all wish it could be sooner, but we too are a work in progress. Yes free moral agents take longer, but as the old hymn says, “it will be worth it all when we see Christ….”
“All things are possible in He who strengthen us”
Thomas R. Wyatt
