“But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me...Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.” (Proverbs 1:25-31)
I’ve already had an intersting conversation this morning over the phone concerning an acquaintance of mine. This person is a young adult (mid-20’s?) who has seen the uglier side of life. They have been homeless, came from a broken home, has medical issues – the whole gamut. They once were a guest (stayed for a few weeks) in my friend’s home while trying to get back on their feet. One of the requirements for staying there was that they would attend church with my friend and abide by the house rules. Nothing stringent or restricting to most people, just common courtesy and at least a hint of gratitude for the free housing, food, transportation, etc. They were not interested in obtaining work, just sponging whatever they could get for free. A leech of sorts. (I know I’m sounding heartless about this but it is a personal hangup of mine. Sorry, not sorry.) After a couple of years past moving out, they are now living at a mild distance, still not wanting to contribute to society or life, and blaming God for all their problems.
We read in our passage today (and many, many other scriptures of the Bible) where God has washed his hands of people like my acquaintance and turned them over to their own devices. It sounds a little bit like God is being heartless if you just go on the surface reading. But let’s consider for a moment, shall we, the weight of what we are reading and what God is truly saying.
For the sake of this devotion, let’s just say my acquaintance is a female. We’ll call her Judy. God chose Judy to be His before He ever spoke the world into existence – thousands of years before Judy was even born. He also knew Judy, being human, would need a Savior; therefore, He sacrificed His only Son, Jesus Christ, on behalf of Judy. Again, before the universe ever came into existence. God prepared a way for Judy to spend eternity in heaven with Him after she died, but just as importantly He provided a way Judy could walk and talk with Him all through life while still living here on the earth. God provided food for Judy, He provided for her health, He provided for a relationship with her, He breathed life into her (after he formed her in the womb) – all of it before Judy had even become aware she needed it. Her body is capable of doing anything and everything she desires. She is in good health overall and has her mental faculties about her.
Judy is enjoying the bounty God has provided for her in the form of shelter, food, and life itself. She gets to see the sunrise and sunset like we do. She breathes the same life-giving air we do. She enjoys the benefits of a body that is perfect according to God’s design. She has friends with whom she talks regularly. Yet she accuses God of not doing enough for her. She has been introduced to Him by my friend, she has seen Him work in the lives of others around her, she has witnessed His goodness. Yet she rejects Him wholeheartedly and is ungrateful almost to the point of rejection.
I ask you, my friend: Why would God do anything more than the bare minimum for Judy? She has rejected His Son, Jesus. She has been ungrateful for even the minutest of blessings God has given her. She is accusing of God as being absent from her life or even fighting against her. She has fought Him all along the way and has now gotten to the point where she is despondent of even life itself. Not suicidal, just withdrawn and despondent. From my vantage point and knowledge she has refused to give her life to Christ and rejected His offer of life abundant and everlasting. For whatever reason she will not yield.
What is your answer? God has revealed Himself to her through the lives of others, He has made every effort to reach her, He has made the way easy for her to accept Him through the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross. Yet she continues to rebel and fight against Him. What more can He do for her than He already has? What more could she possibly want? She doesn’t want to hear about God anymore, claiming He hasn’t done anything for her so quit referencing Him. She has chosen a life alone, to live according to her own standards and methods, to walk her own path unobstructed by God’s rigid demands of her.
You and I meet these people every day in our lives. We all know a Judy – whether it is family members, friends, acquaintances, strangers on the street. How do we help them when they have rejected the very God of heaven? I know, I know, if you do it to the least of these you do it to Me. We read in the gospels how Jesus reached out to the lost. But what of Bartimaeus? What if Jesus had approached him without invitation, offered him healing of his sight, and he refused to accept it? Would we even know who Bartimaeus was? Probably not. We know not of those who did not call out to the Son of God. We don’t know of the dozens of Roman soldiers who stood at the foot of the cross or participated in the arrest and beating of Christ. We only know of the one soldier who stood at the cross and declared, “Surely this was the Son of God.” We don’t read anything further in scripture about those laying around the pool of Bethsaida when Jesus healed the cripple who had lain there for years. Jesus, in His earthly walk, threaded His Way through the presence and lives of thousands upon thousands of people, yet we only read of a few who reached out to Him in their need and drew His miraculous powers into their lives. “According to your faith be it unto you.” Even on His cross, Jesus had one fellow cry out, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” while the other continued to mock and curse until his final breath.
I don’t know the answer. Perhaps you do. If so, I would love to learn from you, my friend. I am not the expert here. I am only a mouthpiece for God, a conduit through which He works in my world. Perhaps there is a distinction in the work of God in the lives of men and women. Those who have never heard receive a special grace and mercy whereby God reaches out and introduces Himself into their lives in a rich and meaningful way. Then there are those like Judy who have met the Master, who are aware of His offer, yet still reject it. Jesus spoke against casting the pearls before the swine. It is my opinion that Judy is one of the swine. May we withdraw from her and allow her sentence to carry out until she cries out to God in humble repentance, or must we continue to waste kingdom resources on such a one? This is a serious question and I humbly ask your advice.
All I know is God is good – all the time. He gives the rain to the just and the unjust. He causes the sun to rise on the fields of the righteous and the unrighteous. He even continues to give life to those who are His sworn enemies. Think about that. God could, with a word, permanently and forever, end the life and existence of Satan himself yet He chooses to allow him to live until his appointed time! God is not allowing Satan time to repent – for that will never happen. Yet there is even an appointed time for Satan’s destruction! That, too, is a part of God’s plan. That doesn’t change God in the least. He is still good, holy, just, and righteous.
Today my friend, I pray that you don’t reject the gift of salvation from God. He has made the way clear for you just as He has Judy. Don’t turn Him away thinking you know better than He. God Himself designed the universe and beyond, He created you in your mother’s womb, He knows what is inside you for He placed it there. He also knows what you have gone through and are presently going through. He sees and feels your pain. But He has provided a balm, a healing, a deliverance for you. Don’t turn Him away again. Accept His gift of life. Be grateful for even the smallest of goodness you can detect in your life and allow that sense of gratitude to grow into thankfulness and worship. Open up your heart, allow Him in, and watch as He breathes new life into your situation.
Be blessed.
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