God is at Great Risk

A friend of mine passed me a book hoping my husband would pick it up and read it. Oh, how I wish my man would read some of the many, many books I have purchased for him over the years.

I bet every one of us in a spiritually mismatched marriage has hoped the same thing at one time or another… Can I get an AMEN.. Oh well, one day perhaps. But for now I am really enjoying reading them.

The book I am currently reading is, Letters from a Skeptic by Gregory and Edward Boyd. This book is a collection of letters passed between father and son. Dad is an atheist and son is a believer in seminary studies.

The son invites his Dad to ask him any questions about his faith and promises to give an open and honest account. The questions/objections put forth by the Father are some of the same arguments my husband voices to me. The son answers brilliantly and on an intellectual level as to keep his father engaged. This is great stuff.

As I was reading however, a thought struck me which I hadn’t processed before.

God, Himself risked a great deal in creating the world.

Wow! Now I want to share a small excerpt from both letters and I hope you are moved by just how deep and personal is our God and how He risks His heart for us.

Letter 3 From Dad:

I have another nagging question. One has to question the wisdom of a Creator who would wager so much for freedom. (The last letter addressed freedom and freewill of mankind) Is it all worth it? To create a world in which madmen like Hitler or Stalin can use their freedom to take away the freedom –and the lives- of millions of others is, quite frankly, very poor management. If He values freedom so much, why the hell did God make it so tenuous that the will of one could destroy the freedom of millions?

Lynn Note: I can assure you my husband would ask something quite similar.

Response From Son (minor portion taken from his letter- paraphrased): The fact that we humans have such an incredible amount of potential for evil is indicative of the fact that we also have an incredible amount of potential for good. There are Hitlers and Stalins. But there are also Wallenbergs, Mother Teresas and Martin Luther King Jrs. I don’t see how you could have the latter without at least risking the possibility of the former. If we have the potential to oppress or slay millions, it’s because we also have the potential to liberate and love millions.

So is it worth it?

Love hurts. It hurts to love a wayward child, for example. But if a person never loved, he’d never suffer. Then again, he’d never really live. God is in this same position, only on a cosmic scale. To refuse to create a world where love was possible because the risk was too great seems to be beneath God. Love is really the only reason worth creating. It’s not freedom for the sake of freedom that God values –it’s love. Freedom is simply the only possible means to this end. God, Himself risks a great deal in creating the world.

Lynn note: When I read this last sentence I was stunned. I guess I have never considered the great risk our God takes when he loves each human that is born. I never considered the heartache He feels so deeply when we use our freedom to reject Him. The author continues in his book to tell the story of Hosea. How God portrays Himself as one who is married to and deeply in love with a wife who will not be faithful.

I pray you have time to open your Bible today and read this story. Feel the heartache and the risk God is willing to take to create a world where we have an unlimited capacity to love and where He can love us without limit.

Be Blessed, Lynn

Comments

[Denise]

Bless you my dear, dear friend. I love you.

[Grammy]

If you remember the garden of eden was all good. Then what is now called balance which is (good and bad) was created. Even with our own children and parents we have no control over them. They are free to choose, and when we try to change them and make them see things are way it pushes they away. It is not till they choose them self to go to god and have a relationship, that it will truly be real.

[Melonie K.]

WOW - this is definitely going on my Amazon wish list!!!

This part gave me a little chuckle:

"To create a world in which madmen like Hitler or Stalin can use their freedom to take away the freedom –and the lives- of millions of others is, quite frankly, very poor management."

After a decade in retail management and a Type A tendency to want to micromanage everyone and everything (so I can make sure it's done "right") I have finally developed the ability to delegate. It was more than 5 years into that decade tho! It sounds like Dad is "all business" - and honestly he DOES make an excellent point. But the phrase "poor management" was what made me chuckle. I can see it now: a T-shirt or bumper sticker that says:

G*d gave you free agency because He is willing to delegate
OR
Micromanagement: Not how G*d rolls.

Or some such fun thing.

(I like to think He also has a sense of humor as well.) ;-)

[Julianne]

I love this Lynn, as I too have read so many great books meant for "another!"

Oh my, can I relate! I have bought so many books and even given them as gifts. Times when my hubby would tell me how bored he was on a job away from home, I would bake cookies and send him a "great" book, but to no avail. He always ate the cookies though! Finally, one day, he told me he hates reading, he much prefers to listen.

AH-HA! I FOUND THE SOLUTION!!!

I went and bought some great books (that other men had mentioned as the book that took them out of being lukewarm or atheists) on audio for him and guess what? Years later, those books are still in their original packages, completely undisturbed! LOL!

I no longer hold out hope that he will pick up the magazine article I left out for him to find...I could glue it on his pillow and he would still refuse to notice it! There is no magic solution. I am not in control.

As you know so very well, we wait on God. God already has the plan lined out on how to move his heart and how dare I try to sabotage His plans with my own!!!

I love you sis!

[Debbie]

Leaving the books around was something I used to do. But it never seemed to work so I stopped doing it. Now, I end up reading them myself. Oh well..

It is amazing that God allows us to have the freedom to choose to love. I never really thought about the risk. Thanks for sharing Lynn.

[Dineen Miller]

Wow, that's profound. I need to check this book out. God is so awesome! :-)

[Caroline]

Lynn, thanks for this post. It is deep. I am still pondering it! Also you have given me an idea of what book to buy after an acquaintance surprised me with a gift card for Borders. Have any other book suggestions?
Julianne I love your last sentence in your comment, really affirmed what I have been struggling to do.

[Melanie]

Wow! I had never thought of this before, but how true... God DID take a risk in creating this world, and he DOES take a risk everyday loving each one of us.

So glad I dropped by tonight and caught this post! Sounds like a great book for both believers and non-believers.