Brethren, Peace and Good to all of you.
The title promises a vast discussion, infinite when it comes to God, and huge and multifaceted when it comes to man. Nevertheless, I’ll keep it brief. J
I want you to think about this:
· Why did God create the Garden of Eden for man to “work it” (Genesis 2:15)? Couldn’t God have made it automatically self-sustaining?
· Why God didn’t just “beam” the Israelites into the Promised Land thereby avoiding them 40 years of wanderings in the desert? Moreover, why didn’t He remove the Canaanites painlessly from the land instead of allowing all the subsequent warfare?
· Why did David have to slay Goliath? He exposed himself to deadly combat with a trained warrior, he could’ve died when God could’ve just “zap” Goliath. Why didn’t He?
I could multiply the examples but these suffice to illustrate the following thoughts that come to my mind. First, the popular caricature aside, God is not Santa Clause. He is neither the “pie-in-the-sky” nor a big wishing well that grants every wish. He takes the initiative in our salvation but there’s a lot of human effort.
Consider this: the Son of God could have redeemed us by shedding only one drop of His blood as he scraped his knees when a boy, yet it took the arduous Way of the Cross to prove the infinite width, depth, and height of God’s love for us. It took the trauma of birth, of growing up and losing his earthly father. Also, the persecution he suffered by the lips and hands of others, not to speak of being scourged, crucified, and killed.
God the Father did not spare His Son the common travails of humanity because these mean something. What we do in life matters. The consequences of our actions transcend us. Therefore, we must be clear as to the means, ends, and original intention of our every action. If done in accordance to the will of God, our actions will be imbued with supernatural value and the consequences will redound to the salvation of others.
Human work, tears, effort are not for naught. These are all part of God’s will to us. The more we abandon ourselves to His will, the more fruit our actions will produce, even in the face of great obstacles or seemingly intractable evils.
Let’s go forth, then, glorifying God in everything we do, feel, and suffer. Let’s do it for the sake of His love.
I leave you with this question: What do you ask of God in your particular situation, an "easy out" from it or the means to conquer it?