Theodicy And My Own Idiocy

Okay, friends - I traveled to Florida yesterday to arrive and find there was quite an interest in what I wrote in yesterday's blog about suffering. Here's a follow-up which will probably stir the pot more but at least will clarify my thinking :)

Theodicy is the word used to describe our attempts to explain the existence of evil given the fact that our God is a good God. "How can a loving God allow evil?" Since the ancient prophets raised the question, no satisfactory answers have been offered. So I suppose it may be idiocy on my part to even touch on the subject, not one time but twice!

First, let me say that I make certain assumptions when I write my blog. Foremost is the assumption that those who read it already know some things about me - things that I don't have to assure readers about before setting forth potentially controversial ideas. So in writing the blog yesterday, I assumed that you, the reader, know what I believe about the basic underlying goodness of God and I assumed that I don't have to put that into the record again before proceeding.

I enjoy wrestling with hard truths and ambiguous issues in Scripture. In the case of suffering, it isn't a question of whether or not our Father is good and loving. The question concerns how we sort out in our minds how He can either "allow" or "cause" what seems to us to be horrible things to happen.

I don't claim to have a definitive answer on this matter any more than the countless others who have addressed the matter throughout history. I do have an opinion though. If I'm wrong, that's okay. It's neither the first nor the last time. My attempt to address the topic here is nothing more than "thinking out loud" and here are my thoughts:

1. Our God is Sovereign over every detail of everything that happens in this world. Nothing happens outside of His control. If that isn't true, we're in big trouble, because if one thing can happen that He had no control over, what else might happen that could have catastrophic and even eternal consequences for us all? Either God is in complete charge or He is not. Again, if He is not, we're all screwed - plain and simple.

2. Under the umbrella of God's sovereignty is the reality that this whole world is under the power of "the wicked one." (See 1 John 5:19) God has allowed Satan and his minions to have run of the house for a time. However, this run of the house isn't without limitations. There are boundaries to what Satan can and cannot do. Those boundaries are set by Almighty God.

3. Does God "cause" or "allow" bad things to happen? First, we have to affirm that God doesn't tempt anybody to do evil. (See James 1:13) Left to himself, apart from the intervening grace of God, mankind will do evil as surely as water runs downhill. That has been true since the Garden of Eden. Then the question comes, "Does God allow evil?" and the answer is, "Of course, He does!" How else would it happen?

4. Could God prevent the evil things that happen from happening? Certainly. Does He always prevent them? No, He does not. Why doesn't He prevent them? Because the things that we see as horrible and evil fit into a greater plan than the vision of short-sighted humanity can see. In other words, God allows evil events to happen because in some way the dark threads of man's sinful behavior fits into the greater plan that God has.

A perfect example is the crucifixion of Jesus. Had we have been there that day, nobody could have ever convinced us that God had anything to do with this, but He did. Did God tempt Judas to betray Jesus? Of course not. Did God tempt the soldiers to crucify Him? No. However, by virtue of the fact that He allowed it, He is complicit in the whole event. After, all Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. What happened that day had to happen.

As the sign on President Truman's desk used to read, "The buck stops here." If somebody allows something that they could have stopped, it really makes no sense to argue whether they "allowed it" or "caused it." The answer becomes a moot point. Again, if God can stop something and doesn't stop it, we must acknowledge that there was a reason for His choice. If somebody tried to hurt Melanie, I would fly into that person in a rage to stop it from happening. However, when medical doctors hurt my children during physical treatments they needed as children, I stood by and watched it happen because I understood the greater cause present that my children couldn't see at the time.

5. That point brings me to the issue of our trying to defend God's reputation. We can't make sense out of why some things happen. The events violate our sense of justice so we sometimes say, "God had nothing to do with that!" (Billy Graham said that shortly after 9/11 and, though I love the man, I cringed when I heard it.) Something in the world got out of hand - God's hand - for a moment??? What a terrifying thought! If that were true, how could we know when He will have control over everything and when He won't??? No, our loving God is in full control at every moment - even in the darkest and worst times of life. He walks through those moments with us, holding us in His loving arms and saying to us, "You can't understand, but you can trust."

Some play the free-will card when they try to explain the apparent horrors of life. "God gave man free will and he can do what he wants," they argue. I know my next statement will probably set off an alarm with many people but here it is: I don't believe in free will. Free will? What does that mean? I'll try to be careful how I say this so as to not be misunderstood: We do make choices in life, so please don't give me the worn-out "robot argument." However, those choices don't don't emerge from a will that is free. Every person's will has been shaped, influenced, and directed by the stimuli that has come into their lives. There is a reason people make the choices they do. Choices aren't made in a vacuum. They are made in conjunction with influences that move our wills in one direction or another. Again, there is a reason why people make the choices they do. Could God have protected a person from the influences that led him to make a wrong choice? Of course. Then why didn't He? That is the question of the ancients as well as contemporaries and, to our dismay, has no satisfactory answer. When we reach a dead end on the street of reason, we have to take a sharp turn onto the road of trust. It's that simple.

Why does God allow rape, incest, murder, torture, etc? I don't know! But if He could stop it (and He could!) and He doesn't, we must assume it serves a greater purpose than our finite minds can comprehend. Don't think for a moment that I come to this conclusion with callous disregard for those who hurt. My own wife was repeatedly molested as a child by her grandfather - a man I long wanted to kill and hoped would one day go to hell - a man whose grave I imagined writing "child molester" on with Round Up (a weed killer that would kill the grass wherever it touched.) Yes, I have known anger about injustices and evil in this world. (As an aside, both Melanie and I forgave him and have recorded a teaching that gives the details. It's called, "Freedom Through Forgiveness.)

The bottom line is that if God doesn't stop something that He could stop, the existence of that event must serve an eternal purpose. We don't have to understand it, but to come to peace with the event, with ourselves and even with God, we must trust.

The older I get and the deeper I go with biblical truth and with my pursuit of theology, the more I realize there are many paradoxes (two facts that are equally true but appear to be in contradiction) with our God and His ways. We must learn to be content with those paradoxes and not insist on finding definitive answers to every question. God doesn't need us to defend Him nor explain Him. He just wants us to trust Him. He is good. That's a given. How terrible events can be reconciled with that fact is a question that most likely will linger as long as the world stands.

A Throne In Heaven

Things don't just "happen" in this world. A sovereign God has written the script for the drama we call life. The world is not hanging in the balance, with the outcome yet to be determined. Some people seem to believe that the throngs of heaven are on one side of the stadium and the demons of hell are on the other, each hoping their side wins. Within the context of their twisted theology, it becomes man’s decisions that will determine who wins. Meanwhile, God is keeping His fingers crossed. With that perspective, it’s no wonder that so many experience such anxiety!

That line of thinking is nothing less than religious humanism and is an insult to God’s sovereignty. It puts man in the driver’s seat and makes God nothing more than a nervous passenger who is doing all He can do to make sure everything turns out all right. It’s a perspective that portrays God as sometimes encouraging us, sometimes threatening us, but always hoping that man will respond in the right way.

All of heaven isn’t holding its breath waiting to see how things turn out in the end. We aren’t at the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and the enemy’s home-run slugger up to bat. The fact is that eternity’s headlines have already been written. They read, “God Wins!”

When John saw the throne of God in heaven (see Rev 4:1-2), there was Someone sitting on it. Sitting – not standing. (See also 1 Kings 22:19; Isaiah 6:1; Daniel 7:9) Your heavenly Father isn’t pacing the corridors of heaven worrying about how things will be resolved. He’s seated because He already has it all worked out, to the last detail. Being omniscient, nothing takes Him by surprise. He already knows everything. There aren’t any unknown variables that will cause Him to need to react. God doesn’t react. He only acts.

If His omniscience gives Him knowledge of everything, His omnipotence means He has the power to do something about it. God is all powerful. The Bible teaches that He will do whatever He wants and nobody or nothing can stop Him. (Daniel 4:35) Why He sometimes allows things to happen that seem wrong to us and won’t allow things that seem right to occur are hidden within the mystery of His sovereign wisdom. It doesn’t sit well with our human ego, but God’s job is to be in charge. Ours is to trust. That’s the only way we will ever be content in life.

Either God is in control of everything that happens or we couldn’t be sure He is in charge of anything. Sometimes when evil things happen in this world, some well meaning Christians will argue, “God had nothing to with that!”

Is that so?
Did He know about it in advance?
Did He allow it?
Could He have stopped it?

The obvious answer is yes. God is connected to and stands in authority over everything. Anything outside the realm of His control would be as great as Him, and nothing is as great as God.

If you can think of things that have happened which you believe God could not have prevented, then a horrifying question must be considered. What else might happen that’s beyond God’s control? If God can’t prevent some things from happening; if some things are beyond His will and control, then maybe the worst is yet to come! There would be no reason for us to ever have even a trace of contentment in life if a single thing can happen apart from God’s control.

Thankfully, the truth is that nothing can happen independent of His authority. Why, then, does God allow events that seem terrible to us? Only in heaven will we learn the answer to some questions. In the meantime, we need to be sure that we don’t try to understand who God is based solely on our circumstances. To the contrary, we must interpret our circumstances based on who God is, and by what we do understand about Him. There’s one thing we know for sure about God – He is love. (1 John 4:8)

Don’t try to understand God by your circumstances. Look at your circumstances through the grid of God’s love and like Paul, learn to be content in whatever circumstances you are in at the moment. You can be content because the victory has already been won for every battle you’ll ever face.

Do we really believe it when we sing,

“Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come.
Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home?”

It’s called home because we already live there. In some way that defies the ability of our human minds to grasp, you and I are actually already seated with Christ beside the throne of God. The Apostle Paul wrote:

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus"(Ephesians 2:4-6).

Harry Ironside, a great preacher of the early 20th century once had preached on this passage just before he greeted a young child after the service. “Did you enjoy the message?” Ironside asked the little boy.

“Yes, sir,” the child answered.

“What did you understand from my sermon?” Ironside asked.

“Well,” answered the boy, “I didn’t understand it all, but I learned one thing. We’re sittin’ pretty, ain’t we?”

There’s a good reason for us to have peace – in Jesus Christ,“we’re sittin’ pretty.” When we trust in the sovereignty of our loving Father over the details of our daily lives, peace will permeate every aspect of our existence. If it’s true, as the old spiritual song says, that “This world is not my home. I’m just passing through,” then why seek contentment from this brief stopover? Look through the open door and recognize that your Divine Lover is sitting on a throne, ensuring that everything is unfolding according to plan.

The Value of Laughter

When Nehemiah led the people of Israel to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, they had a ceremony after the reconstruction was complete. Ezra, the priest, stood before the people and began to read the Law of God to them. As he read, the people were moved to tears and began to weep as they worshiped God. Nehemiah encouraged them with these words: “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).
Children naturally find strength in joy. I remember a joy I experienced as a young boy that generated a sense of physical strength in me. It was the joy of a new pair of tennis shoes. Paul Parrot Shoes sold a pair that had the personal guarantee of a talking parrot on the television commercial. Not only would he give you a free plastic egg filled with candy, but this parrot assured young customers that his shoes would “make your feet run faster, as fast as I can fly.”

On one occasion when my parents bought me a pair of shoes, I begged for Paul Parrot Shoes. When I got those shoes home, I put them on, laced them up and went outside to try them out. I timed myself as I ran completely around my house. It was true! I could feel the strength these shoes were giving me. I laughed out loud as I imagined Paul Parrot himself trying to keep up with my running if he were flying beside me. It was my fastest speed ever to run around my house. I had never actually timed myself before, but it didn’t matter. I just knew this was a record.

Do you want to find strength to “run and not grow weary?” (Isaiah 40:31) Then resolve to laugh and have fun. If anybody has a reason to do so, you do. The party in the kingdom of God is going on right now. Don’t be like the older brother in the story of prodigal son who stood outside and missed the fun. Come on in to the celebration and watch your strength grow.

Laughing at ourselves is a healthy part of a a godly lifestyle because reminds us that life doesn’t have to be taken so seriously. To laugh at yourself has the effect of a good dose of medicine. I have often laughed at my own weaknesses – my terrible sense of direction, my pathetic lack of mechanical skills, as well as many other things that I’m not secure enough to tell you right now!

Topping the list of causes to laugh at myself are the foolish things I have mistakenly said. There was the time in church after I had spoken when I wanted everybody to stand to their feet and bow their heads for prayer. That’s what I wanted. What I said was, “Will you please stand with your head bowed to your feet?” Later, some people told me that they thought I was beginning some sort of aerobics ministry right there on the spot. We all had a good laugh, especially me. My worst misspeak in church was when I was a young pastor teaching in church about what the Bible says concerning our responsibility to care for the older widows in the church. "The Scripture doesn't indicate that we have the same duty toward younger widows, probably because they're still young enough to get out and hustle for a living." As I watched the shoulders of the whole congregation start to shake with laughter in union as they tried to squelch their laughter, I realized what I said and remember that while I meant the word "hustle" to mean "work hard," they had another meaning of the word in mind. "You're all sick!" I finally laughingly said to the whole congregation.

Learn to laugh at your own idiosyncrasies and mistakes and you’ll discover that you can create a joyful atmosphere that’s literally refreshing.

Can You Go Too Far With Grace?

One of the most frequent accusations I hear as I teach the truth of grace is that we have to be careful about not taking grace too far. After all, people will go crazy and abuse grace if you aren't careful. Some suggest that there is "grace and truth" and that we need to keep the two in balance, as if there is anything else we could do. You can't divide truth from grace. When we do, truth stops being true and grace becomes disgrace.

It is important to remember that grace involves God expressing His unconditional love and favor toward us; independent of anything we ever do or don’t do. Grace is personified in Jesus. So to say that you can go too far with grace is like saying that you can go too far with Jesus. It simply isn’t possible.

Some people are afraid that if you teach the pure grace of God, people might be encouraged to go out and commit sins. That kind of fear shows a lack of clear understanding about what grace does in a person’s life. It certainly doesn’t encourage sin!

The idea that you can go too far with grace is an irrational fear. When a believer sins, he is acting in a disgraceful way by contradicting the very essence of the grace of God which is in him. Grace empowers us to honor our Father through our actions, not dishonor Him. It is possible to pervert grace so that it stops being grace, but it isn’t possible to go too far with it.

Paul explained it this way in Romans 5:17: “Much more, those who received the abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. He said that if we’re going to reign in life, there needs to be an abundance of grace, which provides the gift of righteousness. The result will be that we reign in life.

The word “abundance” in that verse suggests an overflow. It doesn’t mean filling something to the top. It means filling it beyond the top, so that it spills over. Paul said that is what has happened to the Christian. We have received an overflow of grace.

Go too far with grace? There’s no way. The fact is that most Christians haven’t gone far enough in their understanding of it. We need an overflow of grace, especially in the modern church. Especially in the lives of Christians today who’ve been ambushed by legalism. As much as we say we don’t want to live under the law, we’re scared to death of the grace of God.

We need to boldly proclaim God’s grace to the church world -- not only to the unredeemed, unsaved world, but to the church world. We need to proclaim the grace of God because the fact is that, even if you could go too far with grace, which you can’t, I’ve not been in a church yet where there was even a remote possibility of going too far with the grace of God.

Go too far with grace? Not a chance. We need an abundance of grace in the legalistic barrenness of the modern church. It’s only when we jump in over our heads, into the river of God’s grace, and we experience that abundance, that we know the victory that is ours in Jesus Christ.

Celebrating Life In Every Situation

Celebration was a foundational aspect of the growth of the early church. The second chapter of Acts portrays a group of people who laughed and loved, who shared meals and money; people who took seriously the practice of partying under the direction of God’s Spirit. They would have fully affirmed C. S. Lewis’s claim that “joy is the serious business of heaven.” The result was that “multitudes were added to the church” (Acts 5:14).

A spirit of carefree, lighthearted, God-centered celebration is often conspicuously absent in the lives of most contemporary Christians. When did we begin to take ourselves so seriously? What urgent matters have we allowed to rob us of our playful spirit? We are going to live forever. How important can things really be that won’t even be remembered, let alone matter a hundred years from now? What are we trying to prove by our stress-filled agendas and to whom are we trying to prove it? There’s no doubt about it, most of us need to lighten up.

When we don’t maintain an attitude of internal joy that can’t be touched by external circumstances, the rhythms of grace in our life become discordant. The music soon stops.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Let me say it again, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4, emphasis added)! Paul had obviously learned the value of celebrating our Father's loving faithfulness because these words weren’t written from a villa on the Mediterranean sea. They were written from a prison cell where he was being held for preaching the gospel. Paul had learned to dance to the blues as well as to an upbeat, cheerful melody in life.

There is something childlike (not childish) about a man who can celebrate when he is in prison. Normally, a child has an innate sense that no matter what is going on in the world around them, everything is going to be alright. After all, they reason, their parents have everything under control.

I have vague memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis that happened when I was a young child. Some say it was the closest the United States has ever been to nuclear war. One of the main things I remember is that our church family brought canned food and bottled water and put it under a stairway inside the church building. The plan was that we would all would all gather together at church if a missile were to be launched against us.

As I and my young friends explored, we sat under the stairs with the stockpile of food and water and I thought to myself, “This wouldn’t be a bad place to stay for awhile.” I wasn’t worried about the potential danger at hand. I knew something very bad could happen, but reasoned that my parents would take care of me no matter what might happen. So while adults worried and prayed and collected bottles of water and cans of food, I played without a care in the world.

To rejoice in the Lord doesn’t mean we’re oblivious to danger, but it does mean we trust in the protection of our Father. Our security rests in Him, not in the outcome of whatever circumstances we may find ourselves. We celebrate Him, not what is happening at a given moment in time. Wherever we might be, we find what C. S. Lewis called “patches of Godlight in the woods of our experience.” The light of His presence in any circumstance is all the light we need to keep the party going.

Christian Cataracts

Sometimes people with failing vision have been known to pretend to see better than they do. They find it hard to admit that they can't see clearly. That’s what a Christian legalist does. In an effort to keep up appearances, those blinded by legalism profess all the more loudly about how clearly they can see. They go through religious motions, but with each passing day their view of the Divine Lover’s face grows dimmer. Those actions which were once animated by His indwelling life and which were motivated by love now become religious routine. They have traded a Person for performance.

They read the Bible, but it doesn’t read them. They say prayers, but don’t pray. They watch and listen, but no longer see and hear. They are more than willing to tell everybody around them how to walk, but don’t have the vision to know where they are going themselves. They are “blind leaders of the blind.” (Matthew 15:14)

The source of legalists’ behavior is not love for Jesus Christ, but dead, religious duty. They believe they can gain God’s favor because of what they do. The miss the point altogether that it isn’t a certain behavior that brings God pleasure. God is pleased only by faith. (Hebrews 11:6)

Those blinded by legalism typically get hung up on the technicalities of the religious rules they deem obligatory, but have lost sight completely of the things that are really important. They argue over incidentals that have no eternal value. They are missing Jesus!

Jesus spoke to them in Matthew 23, telling them the way it is. Eugene Peterson paraphrases the scene in The Message, when Jesus said to them,

You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment- the absolute basics! – you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?

Much of Matthew 23 is filled with the renouncement of Jesus against the legalism of the Pharisees. Their obsession with rules above relationships was the definitive evidence of their blindness. They were missing the whole point, says Jesus.
Have you become blinded by legalism? Some might argue that a Christian can’t be a legalist. They understand the word to refer only to those who hope to become a Christian by their works. While that certainly is one expression of legalism, it isn’t the only way a person can act as a legalist.

The Apostle Paul wrote his epistle to the Galatians because of the threat of legalism in their church. False teachers had come into the fellowship there, teaching these young Christians that, along with Christ, they needed to embrace the law. Paul wrote to them to say, “No! Your life isn’t built around the law! Your life is in Jesus Christ!” He asked them, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” (Galatians 3:2)

Paul wasn’t writing to them because he was concerned that they might misunderstand salvation. He knew they had believed the gospel and received God’s Spirit. How could they become confused about what it takes to become a Christian? They had already become Christians! His concern for them was that, as Christians, they might become ensnared in legalism.

The Pharisees were not believers in Christ. The Galatians were. It’s possible to be a legalist whether a person is a believer or non-believer. Do you want to clearly see the spiritual reality of Christ? Then allow the Great Physician to remove your cataracts of relgious rules and regiment. When you do, you'll find yourself singing with new understanding, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see!"

Interview With Dave Bilbrough

Dave is a dear friend and an outstanding worship leader. I used this video on my "Sunday Preaching" broadcast recently but wanted to post it here for those who haven't seen it. You can learn more about Dave's ministry at www.davebilbrough.com

Is God In A Bad Mood?

“I think God is out to get me!” George Castanza once said to Jerry on the popular Seinfeld television sitcom.
“I thought you didn’t believe in God,” Jerry answered.
“I do for the bad stuff!” George replied.

George’s comical answer reflects a sad attitude common among many people, even many Christians. Legalistic religion often paints a portrayal of a god who is perturbed most of the time, if not downright angry. After all, when you consider that sin runs rampant in the world and if you add to the equation that even Christians can’t seem to get it right much of the time, why wouldn’t God be in a bad mood?

God in a bad mood? That concept carries some serious implications. I’m reminded of a tee shirt I saw in a store which read, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” Transfer that viewpoint onto Deity and we’re all in serious trouble! If God is in a bad mood, then all of creation had better tow the line because if He were angry and if His anger were to be stirred up, it’s no small matter.

Is God short-tempered? Does His patience wear thin when His children don’t act the way they should? The fact is that nothing could be further from the truth. If you believe otherwise, your faulty beliefs are going to be a major hindrance in your enjoyment of Him. After all, who wants to be close to somebody who is scowling at them? Especially if that Person is God.

To experience genuine intimacy with the Father, it may be necessary for your current understanding of His demeanor to be completely dismantled. I’ll state the truth as plainly as possible – God is in a good mood! He isn’t edgy about all that is going on in this world. God doesn’t bite His fingernails or take Maalox for a nervous stomach.

We can know that God is in a good mood because of Jesus. In the incarnation of Christ, God can be seen running out of heaven toward man with a big smile on His face. In fact, the birth of Jesus was surrounded with jubilant celebration in the heavenly realm. One angel, shouting with enthusiasm above the others, was heard to say, “I bring you good news of great joy, which shall come to all people” (Luke 2:10, emphasis added). Good news of great joy – that sounds like a reason for a party!

It’s noteworthy that His first miracle was performed at a wedding party. (John 2:1-11) One of the last things He told His disciples before leaving this world was that He wanted them to continue to be full of the joy they had seen in Him. (John 15:11) Jesus was a fun-loving person.

If your mental picture of Him is that He was a religious sourpuss, you had better take another look. The people who were attracted to Him were dishonest businessmen, vulgar sailors, prostitutes, and the like – none of which you could exactly call “churchy people.” His opponents, on the other hand, came from a hyper-religious crowd who couldn’t crack a smile if their lives depended on it.This uptight, hyper-religious crowd once even challenged Him about his lifestyle. Jesus answered them,

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, “He has a demon!” The Son of Man has come eating and drinking and you say, “Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:33-34)!

You just can’t please the Pharisaical hyper-religious crowd who love rules more than people. Even Jesus couldn’t! Of course we know that Jesus wasn’t a glutton and a drunkard, but the point to be understood here is that He obviously wasn’t so tightly wound that He didn’t enjoy life. He came into this world in the midst of celebration, lived a life of joy (even amidst great sorrow) and on the last night of His life here challenged the disciples to hold on to that same joy.

Since Jesus said that He and His Father are one, we can understand much about the Father by looking at Jesus. Judging from Him, our God isn’t a cranky old Deity who doesn’t enjoy laughter and joy. To the contrary, He is its ultimate source of celebration and pleasure. He is a happy Father who has everything under control. He has already written the ending to this story that is actually His story and it's a good ending. So let's not draw a caricature of Him in our minds by imagining a crotchety old Deity who is in a bad mood. Nothing could be more wrong.

Joe Cocker And Grace?

One time I was speaking at a conference on the subject of hearing our Father express His love to us in nonreligious ways when I asked the group, “Are you able to hear God speak to you if there is no religious tone who what you hear?” The audience waited for me to continue. “Close your eyes and listen to the song I’m about to play, “ I encouraged them. “Perhaps you have heard the song before, but this time, listen for the voice of the Divine Lover in it.”

Then, at a spiritual retreat, in a room filled with Christians, I played a recording by a well known rock singer, Joe Cocker. The words he passionately sang are, “You are so beautiful to me. You are so beautiful to me. Can’t you see? You’re everything I hoped for. You’re everything I need. You are so beautiful to me!”

As the song played, grown men and women began to cry. For the first time, many were hearing their Divine Lover’s voice from a source they had never thought to consider before now. For every person there, this song would never again be the same. God’s love had redeemed it and brought it into the kingdom as a gift for those who listened.

Does this concept seem uncomfortable to you? If so, consider this question: Why should Jesus Christ be restricted to only communicating to you in religious ways? He is Lord over all the earth and can use anything He chooses to express love to those who are His! One unmarried lady I know says that she listens to a radio station that plays nothing but romantic love songs and that she often hears the Lord sing to her through those songs. Who would tell her she is wrong?

I have experienced a sense of transcendent joy that couldn’t possibly find its origin in fallen man at times when I have heard certain non-religious music. I was enthralled as I watched a live performance of the musical The Phantom of the Opera. On another occasion, tears filled my eyes as I attended a concert by the great Italian singer, Andrae Boccelli, despite the fact that not one word was being sung in English.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting that every time we have a positive feeling, it’s God manifesting Himself to us. I recognize that our emotions can be manipulated by various influences. However, I also believe that Christians are sometimes guilty of dismissing the pervasive presence of Christ in this world by relegating experiences that aren’t directly religious as being “non-spiritual.”

I can almost imagine that when I listened to Andrae Boccelli in concert, Jesus was saying, “Isn’t this great? Steve, I love seeing how you enjoy this concert. I can’t wait until you get Home. I have even better ones waiting for you here.”

The world is our Father's pulpit. Let's learn to open our eyes and ears and listen for His melody of His love being sung to us from unexpected places.

Hearing God Speak

In his book, Without Feathers, Woody Allen offers an essay which spoofs the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. As Allen tells the story, Abraham is reporting to Sarah and Isaac about how God has instructed him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. While this description contains elements of humor, it isn’t so far removed from the way some Christians think that God must speak to them.

And Abraham awoke in the middle of the night and said to his only son, Isaac,“I have had a dream where the voice of the Lord sayeth that I must sacrifice my only son,so put your pants on.” And Isaac trembled and said, “So what did you say? I mean when He brought this whole thing up?” “What am I going to say?” Abraham said. “I’m standing there at two A.M. in my underwear with the Creator of the Universe. Should I argue?”

“Well, did he say why he wants me sacrificed?” Isaac asked his father. But Abraham said, “The faithful do not question. Now let’s go because I have a heavy day tomorrow.” And Sarah said, “How doth thou know it was the Lord?” . . . And Abraham answered, “Because I know it was the Lord. It was a deep, resonant voice, well modulated, and nobody in the desert can get a rumble in it like that.”

Hearing God's voice necessitates learning to recognize when He speaks. Don’t wait for a deep, resonant, well-modulated voice. The Lord may speak, expressing His love to you in unexpected ways and at unexpected times. Keep your ears open to hear Him at any moment in any situation.