Dear COA family,
Just this week I conducted a funeral for a COA member who was baptised in church more than 50 years ago but had not attended church for a long time. It was a most blessed service as I was able to share the hope of the gospel with his family members, many of whom were not Christians.
Yet one remarkable thing that I learnt during the wake was that his family was totally unaware that he was a Christian. They only learnt about his prior baptism when he indicated he wanted to have a Christian funeral on his death. They then discovered that he had attended church services when he was much younger. To all intents and purposes, he had been a non-believer to them.
Of course, I praise God for his turning back to God close to his death. Our heavenly Father, like the father of the prodigal son, will gladly and mercifully receive all who come back to him. Yet what struck me most was the futility of his running away from God all these years.
Why would people turn away from God after knowing him? I suppose there can be a myriad of reasons. However, none of them is justifiable or worth it. Running away from God only leads to people “piercing themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10).
God in his mercy also knows that our hope and well-being are found only in himself. Any life or endeavour apart from God leads to frustration and, ultimately, futility. And God will use any means possible to grant opportunities for human beings to turn to him.
This is why God allows pain and suffering to afflict those who reject or rail against him.
Samson was weakened and blinded when he gave in to his own fleshly desires. Jonah was subject to captivity three days and nights in a fish’s belly when he ran away from God’s call. The prodigal son was abandoned and destitute when he pursued a wanton lifestyle.
Psalm 107 tells us of God’s working in the midst of the rebellion of individuals against him:
“Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labour; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress” (Psalm 107:10-13).
In other words, the Lord allows us to experience the futility of our choices if we choose to disobey him and chart our own path. This is not due to God being retributive but rather his mercy towards us. The only good for us is to follow God’s will and God wants no less for us than his perfect good. Pain is his megaphone to rouse a complacent world.
May this knowledge help us to choose to abide in Christ always and warn those who are straying or unbelieving to turn to the only wise God and Saviour!
Revd Ian