Last Friday I had a crazy busy day at the office. I don't like to miss lunch but I assumed I wouldn't have a choice. When I mentioned it to my mom, she informed me that my dad was going to bring me lunch.
I am 36 and finally married and that is NOT unusual for my father. This is the same man that made me breakfast every single day of my life while living at home. As I reached my teenage years, he realized he couldn't make me eat it BUT he would always make it for me.
To some, missing lunch is common place, and I've done it more than I know. But, in my parents' opinion, this should NOT be so.
The point I'm getting at is this: it is not odd for my dad to drive lunch to me any place, any time. He is never annoyed by doing things for his family. I, personally, would have made my "adult" child go without...but not my dad.
This is the same father who inherited a family Auto Paint and Body shop.
I don't know if I just wanted to keep him in business or what, but as a teenager, I wrecked every car I ever drove. I don't know why I had so many accidents but I did. They were not serious crashes..they usually involved a parking lot and a car in my infamous "blind spot." I would come home with a quite creative story or some times, no story, trying to make it appear as if it was the other driver's fault.
My dad could take one look at the damage and nail it perfectly every single time!!! He truly is a genius!! He would say, "Well, it appears as if you were going 35 mph around a corner and brushed a curb and then ricocheted into a car turning on the opposite side.." He'd say something like that...and he was always RIGHT!! I'm still confused how he always knew.
When I was in college, this same father took time out of his busy work day to drive me around downtown B'ham looking for my car that I had misplaced the night before. More often than not, I would lose my keys or lock them inside and to no avail, I would have to call my dad.
I knew when my father was displeased with me. I knew when he was restraining all the things he would like to say to me but my father lived by one most important rule: He showed unconditional love at ALL times.
I believe he sacrificed his self will of responding in a way he would have like to, just to give me an understanding of true unconditional love.
By showing this unconditional love, I could know the unconditional love of my heavenly Father.
It was instilled in me at a very young age that my actions would bring about my consequences. That people were responsible for the wrong things that occurred in their life, it was not because their heavenly Father was angry with them.
Because of the outstanding example of unconditional love I was shown through my youth, I was able to grow extremely close to my heavenly Father.
I knew where to lay the blame - MYSELF! Bad decisions lead to bad consequences and vice versa.
I'm writing this today because I watched an interview that really disturbed me. It was an interview with a well known Christian author. This author teaches about the love of God in his books. However, he is confused on one issue.
God is LOVE. He does not give love, He is love. His love is unconditional. His love is NOT unpredictable.
He does not get angry with any being and decide to destroy them or curse them.
God, the creator, put within every man the mind or soul. This is the gift or to some, the curse of reason. With this gift comes free choice. We are free to decide our future plans. We are free to bless or curse. We have a right to choose.
In Deuteronomy 30:19 God even tells us the best choice, "Choose life! so that you and your children may LIVE."
When the earth was created a universal law was put into motion. That law is seed, time and harvest.
Every word, thought and action is a seed. Over time, we reap the harvest. Whether the harvest is good or bad, that is our decision.
So let me give you another example of a situation that actually happened.
After moving out west, the frequency of my automobile accidents didn't really change much. One might think that without having my father to rely on, I might pay more attention but I didn't... Well, maybe I paid more attention but the conditions were much worse. Snow and Ice ALL winter long can take a toll on a "bad" driver. lol
On top of that, I lived behind Snowmass ski mountain which is deemed in the Roaring Fork Valley, "a horrible icy road." So one evening, I took a sharp turn going 20 mph instead of 5 mph and just barely missed going over a bridge into an icy river. The damage that occurred was in the undercarriage of the vehicle. It had to be towed away to the ONLY auto body shop in Aspen.
Now, the scenario is this:
Knowing the history I have with my father; what if I were to call home and my mom answered.
After explaining everything that happened she then said, "No. Sorry. Not this time. You are out of opportunities. You should have learned your lesson by now."
Would I expect this from my father?
Absolutely not. I would need to get in touch with the source - My dad.
I would reply back. "Can you please put dad on the phone? I need to talk to him!"
I know from my past experience of unconditional love that it knows NO bounds. I also know that
UNCONDITIONAL is NOT UNPREDICTABLE.
In fact, after finding out the costs of the repair in such an expensive area, my dad ended up shipping almost all the parts I needed, so I only had to pay labor - which still ended up costing more than my SUV was worth...but that's not the point!
My dad's response to any situation I get in, whether it is my fault or not, whether he agrees with it or not, is not what he's concerned with...He's concerned with doing HIS part and that is to always respond with UNCONDTIONAL love.
So back to the interview with this author:
He was explaining that God was sort of unpredictable. That we can NEVER understand the mind of God. He used the scripture from Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
While this is very true, God's ways are not our ways BUT God's ways are ALWAYS ways of LOVE! That is why He is so different than us. His ways are always Self-less, which is why they are always different than ours.
His ways may be trying to show us something that He knows will help us, but we are too blinded by our will, our own determination to see, so that we refuse to see what He's showing us.
God is LOVE and can be nothing but...
Therefore the points that the author was using were not points at all. He was forgetting one important fact:
free will. free choice. We choose!
Therefore, when a curse came upon the earth in the Garden of Eden, it was because Adam and Eve made a choice to listen to Satan versus believing in God.
When Job's life was destroyed by Satan it wasn't God teaching him a lesson. The scripture says, "That which you feared has come upon you." Job had more faith in his fear than He had faith in God.
Fear opens a door for the enemy. It also ties God's hands to work in a person's life.
God is not the author of anything but LOVE.
So, the next time you hear someone speaking something that doesn't make sense regarding your heavenly Father, ask to speak to Him directly about the matter.
He will show you who He really is...
Ephesians 3:17-19
"...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength TO COMPREHEND with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
His love is so great, that we have to pray to COMPREHEND it!!!! That is a love that we do not understand.
That LOVE is unconditional NOT unpredictable.
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