My little philosophers
Joshua has been studying about Abraham. In his last lesson he was looking at cross-references in Acts 7 and Isaiah 51. We began talking about the fact that Abram stepped out in faith and left Ur BEFORE God had promised to bless him and multiply him.
So we began discussing "what ifs" and Anna joined in the conversation. She brought up the fact that if Christians obeyed like Abram did, then people would be going all over the world sharing the gospel, and not worrying about salary, comfort, safety, etc. "Like if someone just went to Africa when God told them to," she said, "people in Africa would get saved. Then they would obey and go somewhere else and those people would get saved. And then the whole world would be reached." She makes it sound so simple. But I think she has a good point.
Then we began talk about "what if Abram had NOT obeyed?" Joshua's first response was, "then our family would probably not be Christians". But then he backed up and said, "but maybe God would have made Abram obey because Christ had to come through his line." Anna added that God could always have chosen to use a different person to accomplish His will. And I just sat there in amazement.
My 8 and 11 year olds had just summed up the whole mystery of election in about 5 minutes. The questions they were asking are the same ones I have struggled with for years. I have studied the Calvinism/Arminianism arguments, but in the end always come back to the conclusion that God is just too big for me to fully understand.
Do I believe in election? Absolutely!!!! But do I believe there is also evidence of choice on our part and examples where man's obedience/disobedience affected history? YES! Are there times when it seems that God is swayed by man's prayers and petitions? Again, Yes! But then there are passages like Psalm 139 that tell me "all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
I will never fully understand God. He is a wonderfully divine mystery. And I'm okay with that. He is God. Which means he is not limited to our natural laws or logic. He is not bound by a time line. He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.
I like the conclusion my kids came to. "Oh, well," said Anna, "He's God. He can do whatever He wants." And Joshua said, "Yeah, He can make anything He wants to happen, because He makes the rules." Oh, the wisdom of childlike faith. I like that answer. Works for me.
4 comments:
And we adults think that we have it all figured out........
Sounds like those two really have it figured out.
What amazes me is that God made the rules, has never once changed them, knew the end when He wrote the beginning, and still decided to allow us, as the feeble creatures that we are, to be a part of it.
It is interesting how much truth comes out of the mouths of children. Great story.
I can't describe the weight that was lifted from my shoulders when I finally admitted that I could never attain a comprehensive understanding of God. Now, instead of getting bent all out of shape when I can't understand something about God, I rejoice, because if I could understand God then He wouldn't be much of a God.
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