God Respects YOU

Have you ever heard the question, if there is a God, why does He allow evil to hurt and maim the innocent? Have you ever asked that question yourself? It is a hard question, one that probably has a hard answer. But, even being hard, they are true. Jesus asked his disciples after many were offended at His doctrine and followed Him no more, "Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:67-68). I only mention that scripture so we keep it in mind as we read the OT, and as we come closer to God, to learn more about Him, who He is. Because, at the end of the day, God has eternal life, no other has it.

Now, back to the question. There are many answers of why bad things happen, or why God allows bad things to happen. Here I am only proposing one idea among the many answers that I believe are right. How about this answer: God respects you. He respects you, He respects me, He respects every person who has been or ever will be born on this planet. The scriptures usually describe this as, God is no respecter of persons (meaning that all are equal, and none are above another in the sight of the Lord). I would amend this to God respects every person. God gave us agency, the right to choose for ourselves.

To Adam and Eve, after giving commandments in the garden of Eden said: "nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee" (Moses 3:17). Yes, this life is a time of proving, to prove that we will choose God every time. But He gave us that choice. Why? So that we could fail? Yes. If we choose something other than God, that is our right, it has been given to us. Now, agency does not eliminate the consequences. The only way to obtain eternal life is through Christ, so if you don't choose Jesus, then we are not choosing eternal life. But, that is our choice.

God would not send a soul to earth if they did not have the ability to be exalted, through Christ Jesus. We all have potential. We proved it in heaven, before we came here. And we may a choice there too, and we choose God, now we just have to choose Him again. Why doesn't God take away our agency, that the wicked can have no power to hurt the good and innocent and righteous? Because even God loves the wicked. And part of having love for someone means having respect. God will accept their decision at the end of the day. If they did not choose Him, ok, but He is not going to choose them either.

God knows the future, He knows what we are going to choose. So why prove us? Maybe, this is an opportunity to prove ourselves. Growing up I always fancied myself as strong, unmovable, a pillar. But, there have been times, especailly after the earthquake in Japan, when I realized that I wasn't. I was weak. I found out that I wasn't the giant I thought I was. I proved myself wrong. And so I decided to change. I proved that I wasn't strong, but I knew that God was, He was the strongest thing ever. And I could hold on to Him. I found out that I may fail myself, but God wouldn't fail me. Face it, we are here to prove if we really are all that we claim to be. To prove that we have what it takes for exaltation. And if we don't (and none of us do) then we can prove that God has what it takes. We just need to choose Him.

God respects us enough to let us make our own decisions. Maybe He respects us too much. He is trying to turn His children into adults. And it makes me sad, to think that I fail His respect so often. But then, maybe that should give me strength. For some reason, and I have no idea why, God respects me. I must have done something. All of us must have done something. He loves us all, and there is respect in that.

Now, you're asking yourself, what does this have to do with the OT and bickering between the kings of Israel and Judah? God didn't want kings in the first place. But, not that He gave in to Israel's request, He respected their decision, even if it was the wrong one. The consequences are always there. But, the freedom to choose has been given to to us. Remember, that freedom was given because God respects you. We are children of the Most High, and our potential is as wide as eternity. We are no better than Israel and Judah, going back and forth between righteousness and wickedness. But, God loved them and respected them just as He does me and you. Do we allow for that same respect to each other? To our Father?

And if all that I have said has a grain of truth in it, what does that tell us about God, who He is?