One time I went duck hunting on the last for duck hunting season in our area. A friend and I went, and I showed up wearing waders. He looked at me and asked why I wasn’t going to sit in one of the nice dry blinds on the side of the pond, and I smiled at him with one of my wizened macho-man looks and replied, “Because unlike you my friend, I’m going to wade out amongst ’em where the action is fast and furious. I intend to hunt the supreme ‘honey hole; you just sit over there on the sidelines and watch me go, (and while you’re at it, you might want to take some notes)”.
He rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah right . . .” With that he went to his blind still shaking his head and muttering something unkind. I waded out “amongst ’em” into the flooded corn field pond and stood waist deep in murky water in some tall weeds awaiting the arrival of sunrise and the ducks. I didn’t have to wait long and soon squadron after squadron of ducks were dive bombing in from all angles. I was blasting away with reckless abandon and suddenly I noticed two ducks flying low to my right.
They appeared to be easy shots; however, I had to turn completely around to shoot. I tried to deftly maneuver the turn, but my heavy cumbersome boots did not cooperate and got hung up on a submerged corn stalk and I lost my balance and tripped. Down I went!
Icy water rushed into my waders completely drenching me; (yes my wallet was in my pocket). I managed to hold my shotgun above the water, so it did not go completely under, but it and my hand were the only things that remained dry. The shock of the icy cold water running down my waders all the way to my toes was refreshing, (I cleaned this paragraph up nicely and removed the profanity for you). I sputtered and cussed and righted myself and retrieved my floating hat from the pond and put it on my wet hair allowing more cold water to run down my neck.
Nice!
Despite my problems I managed to shoot another duck or two, but one could say that my trip was no longer pleasant and might even go as far as to say that my day was effectively ruined. When my buddy saw me drenched from head to toe, it did not help the situation. (The wizened macho man and taking notes comments had not been forgotten.)
A man recently wrote and asked if I would mind counseling him and his son on some somber problems besetting them. I agreed and they came out to my farm and as we talked I discovered that both were hurting, and their lives were not going well at all. The son was very rebellious and had been getting in and out of trouble and recently had gotten involved in a serious car accident where alcohol was involved, and he suffered some severe residual medical and legal problems.
The father was grieving over his son and also having some monumental marital problems that were weighing heavily on him. The son was an avowed atheist. The father believed in God, but was mad at Him and he pretty much blamed God because his life was a shambles. He stated that he had tried his best to always do things the “right” way in life, but his son was hurting, and his marriage had fallen apart despite his efforts. He blamed God for making his life miserable.
Both had read my book, but the message did not seem to resonate. The son adamantly refused to even admit the possibility that there was a God and the father blamed God for all of his misfortune.
I tenderly told his son that God created us with a free will and it was his right to choose to reject God or to follow Him; that is what free will is all about. I explained the consequences of rejection in spending eternity in hell. I also asked him to consider if his current path was making him joyful and filled with peace and love. If he wasn’t living a joyful life, just maybe he should consider that the path that he had chosen was not the correct one.
As for the daddy, I mentioned that tribulation was not always about God punishing someone, and that it is an incontrovertible consequence that occurs as a direct result of sin. Just like if we drop a rock it falls to the ground due to gravity, sin results in consequence regardless of our feelings. I told him that you might throw a rock at a window and regret it the moment it leaves your hand, but the window will shatter anyway. Lives also are shattered when sin is launched.
His son chose to drink to excess and then get behind the wheel of an automobile. The medical and legal problems that resulted can be traced back to his decision to drink and drive, not to God punishing him. God warns in the Bible to drink moderately. If we ignore that warning, we must be willing to accept the consequences. It is a common expression among criminals that “if you aren’t willing to do the time, don’t do the crime”. It applies to sin.
Had I decided to sit in a nice warm blind instead of wading out amongst ’em like Rambo to shoot ducks, I would not have gotten drenched. Choosing to wade out into a pond in the dark could have resulted in me drowning, being bitten by a poisonous snake, or being eaten by an alligator. Had any of those maladies occurred, blaming God for my own folly would be folly.
I counseled my new friend that occasionally bad things do happen to good people. My beautiful little five year old nephew died a terrible death from brain cancer at just five years old. Why, I don’t know to this day, but the Bible states that all things turn out good for those who love the Lord. Though I might not always understand God, I do have faith in Him. He loved me enough to die a horrific death for my sins while I was still the worst of the worst of sinners, and I know from that act alone that He has my best interests in mind at all times.
I wish I could say that those two went away happy and filled with peace, joy, and love, but unfortunately the son told me that even after pouring out my heart to him for two hours, that he just could not bring himself to believe in God and sadly his dad still lacked the comfort that he sought when he drove out to my farm to talk.
They might not realize it, but the holes in their hearts can only be filled by Jesus Christ. I ask that you pray for both these men and this family this morning as I’m going to do as soon as I wrap this up. Their only hope is in Jesus and the same holds true for us. Our joy lies in knowing that we will spend eternity with Jesus in heaven where there are no tears, or sadness, or sickness, or grieving, or jails, or bad tests at the doctor’s office.
We will bask in His glory forever. I wish I could explain that better to folks, but hopefully God’s Holy Spirit will soften hearts. I pray and I sing: Open the eyes of our hearts Lord – Open the eyes of our hearts – We want to see You – We want to see You – Holy, Holy, Holy – We want to see You.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.