Friday, December 28, 2012

"Perfect!" 

Very early in my Christian life, someone told me that "we must learn to forgive God."  The person who made the statement proposed that since God sometimes determines or allows difficult things to come into our lives, we must absolve Him no less than we do others who hurt us.    

Although still wet behind the ears as a believer, I immediately reacted against any such notion.  I still react against it, as I am sure you do.  "As for God, His way is perfect" (II Samuel 22:31).  It's hard to imagine a thicker shroud of darkness descending upon us than entertaining the accusation or even the implication that our Lord has acted unfairly toward us.  Satan tempted Eve by suggesting that God withheld a Divinity and knowledge He should have bestowed upon her and Adam.  "The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4-5).  The devil continues his accusatory insinuations upon God until this day.  We must counter with bold affirmation in our thoughts, beliefs, convictions, and words that "His way is perfect!"    

It is.  Never in eternal history has our Heavenly Father conducted Himself in any way other than the best possible course of action.  Nor will He ever act in anything less than pristine perfection.  We may not always understand His whys and wherefores.  We can be sure, however, of His motives, means, and methods.  This presents a great challenge because we have no frame of reference for perfection.  Well aware of our faulty understanding and perception, Satan seeks to tempt us with uncertainty regarding God's determinations and allowances.  If we are not strongly established in the vital doctrine of our Lord's perfect way, we may easily succumb to questioning Him in a manner that suggests unfairness and error on His part.  Again, a shroud of darkness descends upon us if we succumb to this devilish deception, leading to grave weakness in our walk with the Lord.  

I suspect the person who so many years ago suggested we forgive the Lord might not have meant that God wasactually guilty of error and injustice, but rather that since it might seem to be so, we do well to absolve Him of blame in our own minds. This notion must be rejected no less than the more direct accusation.   Indeed, born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ must not allow even the wisp of a cloud to block our vision of God's perfect motive, means and method. 

In your life and mine, He has never acted in a manner less than the pristine purity of the best possible course of action.  Nor will He ever.  This we must believe because it is true, and because we cannot walk by faith with a God whose way we view as less than perfect.  Forgive Him?  Never!  Praise, thank, and fall before Him in the blinding light of His sublime purity?  Always!

"The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works."(Psalm 145:17)

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