Supreme Divine Intervention
For quite some time now, one of the greatest debates within the church has been over whether we Christians actually choose our faith. . . or if we are previously chosen by God, and are thereby destined by God to receive our salvation. This debate is most commonly known amongst the masses as Free Will versus Predestination, and it continues to incite controversy betwixt believers to this very day.
Now ~ far be it from me to discourage intelligent discussion in church settings. Lord knows we could all use more intelligent convo both inside and outside of church surroundings. However, I do have my concerns regarding this particular subject, dear reader, and its basically two-fold.
Number one: Being that believers can be quite passionate about certain topics, heated arguments are almost always a given with this one. To which, disrespect and division can arise as well, and if that’s where the debate goes. . . not good, not worth it. What’s more, (in regards to how our valuable time may be invested) there are plenty of biblical subjects to be discussed. A plethora, dear reader! In other words, there may be other theological topics, even more worth our while. (And having suggested a matter of time stewardship, I promise to keep this chapter relatively short.) My second issue with the topic at hand is this: that the entire ‘Predestination vs. Free Will’ thing might make for interesting chit- chat, but in the end should have no influence in our spiritual walk. Seriously. This is not to say that it’s an inconsequential subject, ’cause anything pertaining to God automatically has value. Amen? But whatever conclusion each of us comes to regarding the matter, honestly shouldn’t change a thing in the way we value The Lord and live for Him. Our God is still an awesome God ~ either way; and He still reigns Sovereign ~ either way. (And this is not a cop- out to sidestep biblical discourse by any means.) It just so happens to be true.
Furthermore, each of us still has our own purpose in fulfilling God’s will for us, regardless of any notions regarding free will or tulips or predestination. Nothing changes.
Of course, if any of us ever finds ourselves challenging God’s motives or agendas, or His level of righteousness for any reason. . . Well, then, that individual has a real problem to address within themselves. Wouldn’t you concur? ‘Cause it really does come down to the strength of one’s own faith, or the lack thereof. That is to say, if anyone ever attempts to impose conditions on God, where their faith hangs precariously in the balance, contingent on whether they approve of God’s ways~ BUZZZZZ! Red flags signal that its time for that so-called believer to challenge their own so-called faith.
Do we genuinely trust in The Lord or don’t we?!? (It’s actually a pretty simple question at the heart of it, amen?)
Though each of us probably feels as though our faith in The Lord is downright solid, many of us are still challenged in various ways. For some, it’s simply with the notion that The Almighty might choose to show preferential treatment in choosing certain people to be saved, while leaving others to their dreaded fates. I’ve heard people challenge or counter the idea of God’s election like, “Well, I wouldn’t want to serve a God like that!” or “Well, I don’t believe God would do something like that!” But as we’ve addressed before, these attitudes (of trying to somehow impose boundaries on God) are both terribly foolish and counterproductive. (That’s far worse than merely inconsequential rift with The Lord, but I digress~)
For no matter what The Lord determines, we should remain true in our faith in Him. . . that is, if our faith in Him is genuine to start. And we should resolve to follow Him, with all of our hearts. Though I know this may be easier said than done at times, (because of our human nature), God is truly worthy of our confidence. (I’ll share a personal confession here.)
As a kid, and then as a young man, and then as a middle- aged man, and now, an old man ready to call it a day, I’ve never liked being told what to do. Willful. Prideful. This has always been my way. I’m being honest with you now, dear reader. (So don’t judge me:) This was a flaw that constantly kept me from being on good terms with my teachers. This is what kept me out of martial arts as a youth, and from The Air Force as a rebellious teen. . . and quite often, from catering to most employers’ wishes over the years. In short, I’ve never wanted to do anything that I personally didn’t feel was worthy of my attention. I especially felt this way in dealing with people I felt were somehow mentally inferior. I thought to myself, ‘being that I’m constantly surrounded by stupidity, whose judgment could I ever have confidence in?!?’ or ‘Who could I ever believe in?!?’ I’ve known a lot of lame-o knucklehead booger- eaters in my day, and rarely did I feel that I could put confidence in any one of them. I’m praying you can relate to what it is I’m saying here, dear reader. Because I tell ya now~
Once I was connected with God, I had no issue with trusting God Almighty. I knew that God was (and is) Lord over all, and that He’s perfectly superior in every way. None of us ever needs to question that, and nobody needs to worry about God’s motives or outcomes. God is perfect love, and everything He does founts from that love. He has more than proven Himself without ever needing to, but for our benefit, He continues to do so.
So once again, we conclude that God loves us, and that He has everything under control. Therefore, we only need to concern ourselves with doing our best to love Him back, and to live for Him. That’s all.
Now ~ I’m really hoping that it hasn’t sounded like a copout to say that it really doesn’t matter which ‘side’ one leans toward in the great Predestination/ Free Will debate. Though all that truly counts is the goal to serve God always. But if anyone wants to read my personal take on said discussion, (for your own amusement and/or consideration), feel free to read the following.
Otherwise, you can skip on over to Chapter Eight.
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Romans 8: 28-30 (NIV):
28“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. 29For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that he might be the first- born among many brothers. 30And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.”
That Scripture was brought to us by The Apostle Paul, originally speaking “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints”. And yes, there are several other verses and passages conveying similar sentiment. And not just from Paul, but from way back in the Old Testament, from the Gospels, and from other writers in our Bibles, following Romans.
Now you may have guessed, dear reader, that my personal views can be dubbed closer to Calvinistic than not. But I assure you that my train of thought goes further than merely finding the word “predestined” in The Good Book. With much prayer and reflection, I’ve drawn my own conclusions. . . just as you should. Please believe me when I say that I only offer the following as food for thought, and not to force my point of view on anyone here. (Though I may do so in other chapters:) That being said ~
I do believe that God’s involvement, in whatever lives He chooses to delve into, runs much greater than people usually realize. Granted, I don’t know whether we’ve been too lazy to consider everything happening around us. . . or if we sometimes simply believe that we have things under control ourselves. But I’d say we’re at fault, either way. In my humble opinion, if any true believer takes the time to break things down, I think they’ll certainly find God involved much more than He’s been given credit for. To clarify, I’m referring to all things as they transpire, just as we addressed in chapter five. And why should the subject of our salvation be any different? Because there’s so much at stake?!?
Well, if anything, wouldn’t God be even more inclined to be involved with a detail of such great importance?!? Sure seems like it to me.
Would it ever be that God would be interested enough to intervene in the little details of our lives, but not those things of the greatest magnitude?!? As if The Lord would intervene to heal our migraines, or to arrange that pay raise at work for us, but not care enough to rescue us from the flames of Hell, if He was so inclined?!? I’m not buying it. We’ve all heard people use that phrase “It’s a matter of life and death!” to emphasize the urgency of a situation, right? So ~ if one’s salvation is a matter of even greater magnitude than one’s physical “life and death” scenario, don’t we believe that God may want to get involved at some point? I’d have to check the ‘yes’ box. Although, once again, it truly is a matter of God’s own prerogative, amen? He’s hardly obligated to help us, though the love He has for us (dictates) His actions. Note: I put parenthesis around the word ‘dictate’ because I wasn’t sure that was the right word. . . but I trust you get what I’m getting at, don’t you? {He doesn’t HAVE TO help us, though His love for us engages Him to reach out.} Better?
Anyway~ If we investigate His history of divine intervention for ourselves, it’s not difficult to find God’s influential ways. Remember our story of Jonah, and how he was ultimately “motivated” to do as The Lord wished? Or how ’bout considering Paul’s conversion, if you will? That man had absolutely no interest in embracing Jesus as Christ. None. In fact, he was in the midst of hunting down the new church of Christians until The Lord met him on that road to Damascus, blinded him, shared God’s own insight, then directed Paul (aka Saul) to Judas’ home to be further enlightened by a man named Ananias. Now I ask you, dear reader ~ Did it seem as though Saul (aka Paul) would have ever accepted Jesus without The Lord’s divine intervention? Or was it that God did exactly what He knew it would take to bring Paul to salvation? Though some might say that the “choice” to embrace God still rests with the Elect. . . who can resist God’s will?
The Lord knows us completely, and He’s never mistaken. That is, He knows exactly what combination of factors will bring us around to where He wants us to be. When you or I might try to orchestrate events like future moves on a chess board, there’s always a chance we could be amiss. Yet with God, there’s no chance of any such variance, ’cause He is never wrong. Not ever. So, if God were certain that if He caused A, B, and C to occur, a person would absolutely, positively choose D. . . you see what I’m saying? At that point, is there really even a “choice” per se’? Or has one been given that “choice”? Kind of like telling someone they can draw any name out of the hat. . . when there’s only one name in the hat from the start. They may still technically choose any name out, though there is only one, soooo~
I know. People can argue in circles over that one, but is that being a good steward of the time The Lord has given us? Ya know, even that just might be a subject worthy of discussion. Another time.
Now ~ for those still insisting that the choice is still ours unprovoked, please allow me to heap an even bigger helping of food for thought upon thy plate. Tell me, from whence came our intellect, our sensitivities, our stubbornness or lack thereof, our favorite colors, plus all of our emotions including our breaking points? Even if we believe that the choice to follow God was thoroughly our own, Who was it that blessed us with those traits that contributed in our making such decisions in the first place?!? (Not to mention all of those other motivating and contributing factors, i.e. like wanting to keep our significant others happy. . . having to work late in order to keep one’s job. . . remembering what our dads used to teach us when we were younger. . . those heavy rains that rolled in so suddenly day before yesterday?) Who arranged all these factors? If you said GOD, then good answer. Highly likely that He orchestrated everything that we just mentioned. At which point, we ask ourselves the following: Who is it that arranges for someone to make the decision to follow Christ? You get what I’m getting at, don’t you, dear reader?
A further example ~
Supposing The Almighty had programmed/ (instilled in) me to love the color yellow, but hate the color orange, and to love the sour tang of a lemon, but to forever be revolted by the taste of any orange, and, oh yeah ~ that I was also born deathly allergic to oranges. . . Then riddle me this: Which am I more likely to “choose” for myself at lunchtime, (given that I were indeed “choosing” for myself)? Would it be the orange juice? Or the lemonade?
(And just to push this silly example to the extreme) what if I were going to “choose” to commit suicide by orange juice that day, but somehow they just sold the last glass of OJ! In fact, the entire county just miraculously ran out of orange juice at that very moment! ( Oh man!) It would seem that my decision had somehow being neutralized, as it were. As I’ve mentioned, there are lots of seemingly little things that God has done that we may never even recognize, let alone the epic key factors. . . such as the fact that it was The Father that gave us His only begotten Son. And some of these having to do with who we are as individuals, and often the decisions we’re destined to make. . . be it over a beverage or our eternal home. If such is the case, I inquire, how can we give credit for our salvation to anyone but God Himself?!? And whom could we ever name above The Lord on the list of those contributing most to our embracing salvation?!? Nooobody! Am I right?
Mind you, this is merely my train of thought, dear reader. And I don’t know if there’s already a phrase for this, but I call it Supreme Divine Intervention. Just my term for how God is always looking out for us from On High, in every detail, in every possible way.