Building Up Evidence Against Yourself
It’s amazing how God gives us free will and if we wish it, He will back away and let us do life ourselves. He’s a smart parent. He has been parenting for thousands of years, and so, He knows what He’s doing with people. So, as some of our earthly parents do or have done with us, they let us go and do life on our own, giving us little or none of their two-sense. A more clear explanation of this is letting us go out into the world and learn the hard way.
“… “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. ”
God is amazing. I say this with a smile on my face and in knowing how He has dealt with me, allowing me to go to the ways of my flesh. He has taken His hand off the wheel to let me make mistakes without Him being in control, so that I can find out, after all the heartache and pain, that it’s safer and better to be in the shadow of His wing. It is possible for God to take His hands off the wheel of our lives, and as the verse from 1 Corinthians points out, He’ll allow us to go to Satan (or as Ephesians 2: 1-2 call him), the prince of the air.
He did that with the Israelites, He let them go many times to their own devices (Psalm 81: 11-12). And He does it with us. That’s true love to let someone leave and not control their actions.
But, when He lets us go to our own devices, we are building up a case of destruction against ourselves, which might have long-term and heartbreaking ramifications. But He allows us to find out the hard way in hopes that we will return to Him and trust Him with our lives going forward.
I liken it to law officials who know they have someone that is guilty of a crime. But they allow the criminal to continue breaking the law. Why? Because they’re allowing the criminal to build up evidence against themselves, and so that at the right time they can go in and arrest the criminal and put the full weight of the law on that person, putting them away for years.
When we build up a case against ourselves of destruction of the flesh, over time the evidence we caused against ourselves becomes so great, that one day the cherry will pop and we will have to reap the destruction of what we sowed. God would like to spare us of cherries popping and reaping the destruction of our choice to operate outside the shadow of His wing, but life doesn’t always work out like this.
When we decide to operate outside the shadow of God’s wings, and operate in the destruction of our flesh, then we are building up a case against ourselves. Just like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15), who left home and in turn built up a case of destructive living against himself, we find that God allows it. But, the son returned home and I would imagine stayed in the shadow of his fathers’ wing going forward because he knew from experience that what the world (the devil) has to offer is no fun.
But, in this advent season, we can be mindful that we have a Father who sent His Son so that we can receive the mercy and grace of the destruction of the flesh. We can have the victory to fight situations where we build up evidence against ourselves.
Happy Friday and Happy Advent Season!