P.S.
I miss being in Seminary. Did I just type that? Yes. I miss the iron sharpening that went on there. The long discussions over coffee and theology that would sometimes twist my mind up so much I would want to scream. In a good way.
In a completely unrelated, or so I thought, conversation with a friend from Seminary days my heart was drawn back to my last blog when she shared the verse Proverbs 21:1 - "The kings heart is like channels of water in the hand of The Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes." NASB The discussion point in my blog was that man's actions don't determine God's character, and the conclusions we draw from bad things, or hurtful people in our lives. I'm still good with that. But, what I didn't offer, or consider as I was thinking that through is that ultimately God's character will determine man's actions.
I mentioned how sometimes we accept freedom for ourselves, but then still want God to prove himself by controlling the actions of others. On the same token, after the conversation with my friend, I realize I may have been having those same thoughts about heart change. I accept that God has changed my heart, but don't necessarily accept that He will do that same work for others. That they will still choose according to their own will (or our insecurities), and not according to what God is doing. He is irresistible to me, but resistible to others. That helps me make sense of decisions I may not understand. That makes it nice and clean for me to not blame God when things aren't as I would hope, instead of truly believing and ultimately trusting Him for the big picture. It's manageable. I've brought the discussion down to my own level of comprehension. Mind not twisted, but also maybe not on track. Without this post script on my last blog, I may have been inadvertently making a claim on free will I didn't mean to make. This may not have registered with anyone, but I only write this for One, and He isn't letting me sit still on it.
So, I am offering this brief little blogette. Just as a reminder that God changes hearts. Pray for those who have hurt you. Pray for those you love. Their actions may not determine God's character, but His character will ultimately change their heart. I wish we were at the coffee shop or sitting in Walsh hashing through this and RWall was telling me about a book I should read on this subject and Justin was telling me how I was wrong on 32 different points, and the Ladybirds were dropping scripture bombs on me, and whoever was preaching in Chapel that day must have overheard our conversation and had prepared a sermon to speak directly to me. That's what I miss about Seminary.
I am most always Gracefully Frank, and sometimes gracefully wrong, or gracefully incomplete. Gracefully blind, or gracefully working out my own salvation with fear and trembling. Gracefully thinking it through, or gracefully unsure even when I may sound gracefully confident.
With our new hearts come God's plans being brought about, for me, and for others. He is not subject to our "yes" or our "no." His plans don't change according to us, he changes us according to His plans.
"The kings heart is like channels of water in the hand of The Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes." Proverbs 21:1
"Then it happened when he (Saul) turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart, and all those signs came about on that day." 1 Samuel 10:9 (regarding God appointing Saul as king of Israel)
"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to obey my rules. " Ezekiel 36:26-27
1 comments
Very good...C
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