“Who is this who keeps darkening my counsel without knowing what he’s talking about?” Job 38:2 (ISV)

It happened TWICE yesterday. And both times, I was talking with a fellow believer about God and His sovereignty. One was just debating for the fun of it. The other was in a HORRIBLE situation. Though from different poles of seriousness, their conclusion ended the same. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

Bill is my friend and a fellow believer. He’s an old guy who, by even his own account, should have died YEARS ago. My visit to him was more than serious. He was suffering in sorrow because his son was dying! My calling was to pray, encourage, strengthen and give Him Jesus. All was going well, until he said those words!

“I’ll be ok when God sees fit to take him!” Bill and I have a very good relationship. We can shoot straight and ‘tell it like it is!’ But he was just guilty of NOT straight-shooting! So I let him have it… in a humorous bantering way, of course! Cuz even ‘I’ have SOME compassion on the hurting! But… Bill just called my Dad a murderer!

Later, I went to the gym. I hate the gym, but love the guy who owns it. We are experienced Christian brothers able to debate without anger. He’s trying to turn me into a Calvinist. A Calvinist believes that GOD appoints people, by HIS choice, to go to heaven or hell. In other words, GYM-man just called my Dad a murderer!

Now I don’t have stupid friends! For long, that is. But they are not stupid. They read and understand The Word of God better than most. Their words don’t come out because of spite or ignorance. They are simply drawing conclusions from the mysteries that come from real life entangled with the Real God! Just like Job!

To me, saying that God TAKES people in HIS time is to call God a murderer. Saying too, that God creates people to send them to hell, is calling God a murderer. I can’t help but react to the charge, because I KNOW God PERSONALLY as MY Daddy! And NOBODY calls MY DADDY a MURDERER without a fight!

This matter will NEVER be settled, this side of Heaven, because there are Bible verses to support both sides of the argument. As for me, I simply refuse to see my Heavenly Father as ANYTHING other than what He has personally shown me. Perfect in Love… ALWAYS! And THAT is the way ‘I’ see it! To me… any other way is just a bad idea!

How do YOU see God?