Friday 20th February - God and Second Choice

DAILY BYTE

Some of you may have been reading through this week’s devotions and thinking to yourselves, “Well this is all ok for God. He never has to deal with unwelcome changes, or a second choice world not of his choosing. God is powerful enough to sort it all out with just a wave of his hand”.

If you have ever found yourself thinking like that then you would, of course, have been forgetting about the Garden of Eden. Remember that? God’s first choice world is seen in the Garden of Eden – a place of beauty, justice, peace, love and deep communion between God and humanity. This peaceful place was, however, fractured by humanity’s poor choices, and thereafter sin entered the picture.

It is interesting to note what God did at this stage. God didn’t in righteous anger destroy us with a click of his fingers. Nor did God give up on us by turning away on us and leaving us to our own devices.

No! God, in passionate love, decided on an entirely different, yet far more difficult way. God chose to sacrificially enter this “second choice world” through Jesus and to impact it. God faced human temptations and shared human sufferings. God did this so that he might show us a way back into relationship with him, and so that he might restore us into Life as he originally created us to live it.
It was the long way round but God saw us as worth it.

Make no mistake, God is powerful enough to sort out the situation with a wave of his hand, but love demands following an entirely more difficult route. You see for love to truly be real, free choice has to exist. Relationships have to be chosen, they cannot be forced.

This is why God did not use power to sort us out, but gave up power for the sake of love, (see Philippians 2. 6-8). God’s extravagant love for us means that he would never give up on us, that he would enter into a world comprising the very worst of our mistakes, just so that he could bring us back to him.

This should help us to remember that God can do something wonderful even in the very worst of second choice worlds!

God does not necessarily give us an easy way out of a bad situation with a click of his fingers, but he does offer us all the grace and strength we need to get through it.

Although the path may be narrow, God takes us by the hand and remains with us to the very end of our journey.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, we learn from the Bible that you are not necessarily into “easy-way outs” of difficult situations. For you did not abandon us when we turned from you, nor did you destroy us when we sinned. Instead you took the narrow road, the long and difficult way of love that has brought us a wonderful message of redemption and hope. Give us the strength we need to follow you always even if it takes us down some narrow roads, and help us to keep trusting in you always. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Matthew 7:13-14 (The Message)

Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with sure-fire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.