Hebraic Musing - "God is in
Control", or is He?
All too often we
hear people say with a shrug of the shoulders "God is in
Control". Johanna Hocker described
their attitude this way – “If God is in control, I am free to do whatever,
because what God wants to happen will happen. I'm off the
hook, so to speak. I can be as irresponsible as I chose, because I have no
voice in the matter.” But is that what Scripture says?
In the creation
account God said “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the
birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the
creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis
1:26 NIV And to reinforce that
responsibility, He gave mankind an assignment – “Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the
birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28 Some
versions say “have dominion”.
It sounds to me like
God gave us control and put us in charge. What else does Scripture say about our span of
control, responsibilities and choices?
In Genesis 4 God
holds Cain responsible for the death of Abel.
Man is his own “brother’s keeper”.
Joshua’s oft
quoted challenge to the Israelites puts their future squarely on their own
shoulders. “…choose
for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors
served beyond the beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land
you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 The choice is theirs, not God’s.
We are the ones
to make choices. “Who, then, are those
who fear the Lord? He will instruct them
in the ways they should choose.” Ps. 25:12 Note – God
said He would instruct them, but the man has to choose.
God knew people
would call on Him for answers, but He made it clear – the choice is
theirs. “Then they will call to me but I
will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord. Since they would not accept my advice and
spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the
fruit of their schemes.” Proverbs 1:28-31 They will eat the consequential fruit of
their choice(s).
The LORD wants
to bless His people. This is clear when
He tells us what He wants us to do. “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand
and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this— the man who holds it
fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hands from
doing any evil.” Isaiah 56:1-2 The LORD clearly wants us to do right and make
the right choices.
J. Martin Kohe,
a psychologist, authored a book I read in the 60’s – “YOUR GREATEST POWER”
which concludes that our greatest power is our power to choose; from a
psychologist’s viewpoint! A must read!
SUMMARY – We are
responsible for our own life and our choices each day. We will reap what
we sow.
Points to ponder
What is Your Greatest Power?
There is something God won’t do since it would be
counter to His character…
He will not take away our freedom of choice.
He will not take away our freedom of choice.
God wins the war.
We choose our own fate, and the consequence(s) to others around us.
Let’s rethink Flip Wilson’s famous line – “The Devil
made me do it.”
“Choose for yourselves whom you will serve, but
as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Yosef
a.k.a. Joe Brusherd
April 24, 2018
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