“Uncle Voss” kept a loaded shotgun in the kitchen, and when Hannah saw a hawk swoop low over the chicken-yard she called for Voss to repel the invader. Voss grabbed the gun and ran out to give battle, but was back soon with ashen face. “Hannah,” he said, Pray for me! Every time I raise the gun I go stone blind!” Was the Lord telling me to stop shooting hawks?? In this case it turned out that “Uncle Voss” had been blind in his right eye for some time, but had not known it. He discovered his problem when he shut his left eye to take aim. It is common practice in some sections to assign everything that happens to the Lord. We rejoice that His Presence can be realized, and people can believe in His real existence and interest in the affairs of life (see Matt. 10:29), but it doesn’t stop there. The game is to “read into” all experiences some special meaning— in effect to “put words in His mouth” so that “God” confirms exactly what we had thought all along. Some call this “witnessing” our faith in God, but it often has an unintended effect. You can’t fool all the people all the time; and repeated efforts disgust thinking people. Upon inquiry

concerning his father, the preacher’s son said, “He had an invitation to move to a big church where the support is great, and he’s asking God to give him a sign if he should accept.” And when the boy was asked, “Where is your mother?” he replied, “She is in the house packing.” Assigning good things to God, and having Him handy to verify our little whims and dreams, also has a negative effect. Sometime the problems of life beset us, there are reverses, a loved one dies. Then the blame is placed on God, and “I just can’t understand why God would do this to me.” The “chastening of the Lord” (Heb. 12:3-f) is that conflict and persecution we receive as a result of our running a faithful race for the Lord— not some business failure we have because of poor management, world economics or the like. Persecution, even in religious matters, is not necessarily a proof of being right. Some develop a martyr complex— they love punishment So, let’s quit trying to tell God how to run His universe, or maneuvering Him into voting our ticket. If God said it, you can read it in His word, and we can all know about it.  [Previous Article] [Next Article]

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