I read a very troubling memorial on the obituary page the other day and it got me thinking on how Christians must sorely grieve the heart of God.
To be sure, it is done in ignorance, but nevertheless, God must be grieved.
I believe that what grieves God most is not that folks sully His good name, but rather, the folks who make such egregious errors open themselves to destruction.
Hosea 4:6 says that Gods people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge; this is not referring to a worldly knowledge, but a knowledge of God's word.
The memorial in question was pining the loss of a father by the family and contained the comment "God broke our hearts to prove He only takes the very best.
" This kind of thinking is rampant in Christianity and it is not right.
God is not the author of death and destruction, yet He always gets the blame.
No...
"the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
" (Jn.
10:10) Let us ponder this simple analogy: would anyone as a loving parent want to break their child's heart in any way, say, kill their child's favorite pet, or in some horrible fashion, let something happen in their life to cause them unspeakable grief? It is folly to even think such a thing.
Why then would we think our heavenly Father would do that to us? How many Christians continue on and on after an experience of grief, never having any peace? How can the Prince of Peace do His work in a heart that believes He caused the grief in the first place? Grief accompanies destruction, and if taken to the extreme, destroys as well.
The author of grief wants to move every Christian toward destruction, and if he can somehow have them believe it is God doing the moving - what else can he get them to believe...
that God is the author of sickness and disease...
that He is the author of poverty...
that God brings bad things into the lives of His people for whatever reason only He can know? Impressionable Christians read that quote "God broke our hearts to prove He only takes the very best...
" and they begin to think that God is the author of things that destroy and bring grief.
Somewhere some old saint of God, who has sat in the pew for fifty years, sees one more quote that lines up with the unbelief that settled deep within the heart long ago that God was the author of troubles for whatever reason only He knew.
Either way both individuals see more trouble than victory and have very little peace; both are being destroyed because of their lack of knowledge.
To be sure, it is done in ignorance, but nevertheless, God must be grieved.
I believe that what grieves God most is not that folks sully His good name, but rather, the folks who make such egregious errors open themselves to destruction.
Hosea 4:6 says that Gods people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge; this is not referring to a worldly knowledge, but a knowledge of God's word.
The memorial in question was pining the loss of a father by the family and contained the comment "God broke our hearts to prove He only takes the very best.
" This kind of thinking is rampant in Christianity and it is not right.
God is not the author of death and destruction, yet He always gets the blame.
No...
"the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
" (Jn.
10:10) Let us ponder this simple analogy: would anyone as a loving parent want to break their child's heart in any way, say, kill their child's favorite pet, or in some horrible fashion, let something happen in their life to cause them unspeakable grief? It is folly to even think such a thing.
Why then would we think our heavenly Father would do that to us? How many Christians continue on and on after an experience of grief, never having any peace? How can the Prince of Peace do His work in a heart that believes He caused the grief in the first place? Grief accompanies destruction, and if taken to the extreme, destroys as well.
The author of grief wants to move every Christian toward destruction, and if he can somehow have them believe it is God doing the moving - what else can he get them to believe...
that God is the author of sickness and disease...
that He is the author of poverty...
that God brings bad things into the lives of His people for whatever reason only He can know? Impressionable Christians read that quote "God broke our hearts to prove He only takes the very best...
" and they begin to think that God is the author of things that destroy and bring grief.
Somewhere some old saint of God, who has sat in the pew for fifty years, sees one more quote that lines up with the unbelief that settled deep within the heart long ago that God was the author of troubles for whatever reason only He knew.
Either way both individuals see more trouble than victory and have very little peace; both are being destroyed because of their lack of knowledge.
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