27 September 2026 #Imokaywiththat
I’ve been contemplating “the Father’s will” lately. What is the Lord asking of me? Which of my actions are self-driven? Is the trajectory of my life leading towards God’s plan for me or away? Where does “providence” and “free will” intersect and are my actions really “pre-determined” Is the Lord, who knows the inner workings of my heart, playing a chess game of moving parts? We know that the Lord allows catastrophes, abysmally poor decisions, and blatant evil in the world; Satan’s minions are free to wander and roam, looking for every chance to wreak havoc.
These are philosophical ponderings but with very real consequences. Ezekiel is having a rough go of it and wants to know why God doesn’t step in and make all things right in his life. The world is in a mess of sin and Ezekiel wants to know why all of the evil-doers are not immediately punished. Not to mention those who finally return to the Lord from a life of sin… is it fair that they receive the gift of eternal bliss the same as the long term faithful? God says yes. And I am honestly not sure how I feel about that.
On the one hand, great! There are a few people I hope I get to see in heaven who made some extraordinarily anti-Gospel actions in their lives, but that I love nonetheless. And another subset who lived the Gospel life but could never make the step into Christianity. And one more group who own a harsh past, still aren’t perfect, but love on the Lord every day in hopes of redemption. I’m really rooting for these all folks, since I am one of them.
On the other hand. Really, Lord, really? Those sincere death-bed conversions after a life of debauchery? Christian leaders who knew the right thing and did otherwise, whether in the cultural, social, church, professional, or public realms? And forget about all those “out there” people… what about the ones who hurt me personally? They get the opportunity for heaven? Well, yes. Because God’s ways are not my ways. And I have to be okay with that.
Because, as Paul reminds us, that’s what Jesus did when he died on the cross for me and everyone else. He emptied himself of prejudice, anger, disappointment, and every other human “feeling” in order to open the gates of heaven for everyone to receive mercy and justice. That’s what “doing nothing out of selfishness or vainglory” and “looking out for the interests of others” means. Look, there are 8.3 billion people on God’s green earth right now and God knows the souls of every. single. one. Each one represents God’s personal creative effort (with a little help from a man and a woman)… why wouldn’t they get the Door A option for heaven? God desires all souls to be with Him.
That’s the paradox of Christianity. We do have free will to choose our actions, to follow the Lord, to be a beacon of light and kindness, and to speak the truth. We want to live a moral and upright life as Christians and we want others to share in our joy. We say “yes” to Jesus and follow through. We know there are consequences to our actions too; some will add years to our purgatory sentence while some get taken care of right here and now.
And those who – in some way, whether by omission or persuasion - said “no” to Jesus but still are a beacon of light and kindness and grace in the world? Well, we’ll let Jesus be the judge of that. #imokaywiththat