Which of the Lord’s attributes and actions have you experienced in your life recently? If you could change one thing about God’s nature, what would it be? Why that one? (Serendipity Bible 10th anniversary edition, page 1298).
Sometimes
I wish that God’s intervention in human affairs were more direct
and prevailed even in the short run despite man’s worst efforts to
thwart his divine purposes. This boils down to a wish that beyond
grace there was a super grace that did not rely upon mankind meeting
God halfway – despite Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus
his resultant ministry could have been avoided by abject rebellion on
the part of Paul. Sometimes I wish there were a measure of less free
will. (It is noteworthy that man’s free will is constantly limited
by multiple forces including physical, social, and economic—why not
divine force directed to this own good?)
In other words when I have aggrieved God with stupid sins of blindness and misdirected self-will (especially when hurting others) would not everyone have been better off with a little direct divine intervention and prevention? Remember staying the hand of a child from touching a hot stove? Surely this direct intervention is greater love than that shown when God allows us and others to get burned by our free will enticements. Is there any wonder that cruel and callous people sometimes sanctimoniously hold that their actions are endorsed by God?
In other words when I have aggrieved God with stupid sins of blindness and misdirected self-will (especially when hurting others) would not everyone have been better off with a little direct divine intervention and prevention? Remember staying the hand of a child from touching a hot stove? Surely this direct intervention is greater love than that shown when God allows us and others to get burned by our free will enticements. Is there any wonder that cruel and callous people sometimes sanctimoniously hold that their actions are endorsed by God?
Where lies the triumph?
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