Apologetics
Who is in charge of your life? If you say that you are, I sympathize with you because you and I know that many things that affect our lives are beyond our control. Many things that we would rather not experience become imposed upon us. Things like illness, growing old, dying, and so forth. Even to the most naïve of minds, such inevitable impositions stand as the incontestable evidence that our wishes are not always our commands. We are really not in charge of our own lives.
All of us, without exception, are in a position of capitulation to something or someone particularly in the matter of our destiny. We have no control. This truth, understandably but regrettably, is hard for some people to acquiesce to. There is a blinding stubbornness that is fuelled by an endemic enslavement to vanity, pride and crude naïveté. Too many people still believe that their destiny is in their own hands. The depth and intensity of this deception is astonishing.
The truly liberated mind, on the other hand, sees and understands the reality. We are ultimately incapable of taking care of our own destiny. Such incapability could not and should not be entrusted with anyone’s life.
Would you say then that other people are in charge of your life? I am guessing that you would not say so. Other people are only allowed to be in charge over certain aspects of our political, social and economic interactions but they are not in charge of our lives. We may entrust medical doctors with our lives when we are sick but they are not in charge of our lives. With this, I have exhausted the search for any human being who is in charge of our lives.
The next option, perhaps, is that nothing or no one is in charge of our lives. Again, this is a pathetic situation because the subjection of oneself under such none-entities is ridiculous. These none-entities (nothings and no ones) certainly have non-existent capacity to exert any influences either on our behalf or otherwise. This may appear enticing but it is simply foolish to assume that nothing or no one is in charge of our lives. There are too many everyday realities that show contrary evidence.
Perhaps it is simply “nature” that is in charge. This is actually frightening. The abstract entity that is referred to as “nature”, like every other immaterial-entity, lacks reasoning, sensibilities, emotions, etc. It is certainly impersonal and unpredictable. If whatever it is that we call “nature” is in charge of our lives, you, I and everyone else who lives is in serious trouble. Thankfully, this is only a momentary lapse in thought. We cannot and must not entrust “nature” to be in charge of our lives. We, in fact do things to counter many natural occurrences (weather conditions, decay of materials illness, death, etc). This is because we intuitively resist the notion that mere “nature” should control our lives. Natural occurrences need to be under the control of an absolute, rational (wise), good, just and powerful authority in order for us to have any comfort or hope at all.
You may believe then that there are different gods who are in charge. This is as silly and frightening as the notion that mere nature is in charge. The idea of many gods carries with it the inevitability of disunity, competing desires and power-struggle among the gods. Would you really want to be subjugated under different gods? Besides, this is far from the reality that only an absolute, wise, good, just, powerful and living authority would provide the much needed comfort and hope for humanity.
We see, then, that the only arrangement that leaves us with any hope is the existence of the One who is truly God. This has often raised an age-old question. Who is the true God? In trying to find the answer to this question, people are often side tracked into mere argumentation or theoretical academic research. However, because the true God is real, the answer to this question must be sought through reality check. The Bible provides and example of this in - I Kings 18: 21-39. There was a reality check regarding the existence and power of God versus the imaginary god (baal). The Bible also commands us to test the spirits in - I John 4:1. In other words, we should not foolishly theorize about the existence of God with such vain arguments as: my god is better than your god and so forth. We should do what our God says and see if we could actually trust Him to be God. This is said with the full understanding that it is possible for people to be deluded into thinking that they are serving the true God.
The beauty of the matter is that it is not a question of personal choice or decision. The One who is truly God is real and actively effectual in the enactment of His sovereignty, will and unstoppable power. God is not passive. His direct dealings with us privately are real. Where this reality is obscured, we must re-assess whom we are worshipping. If there is no real private interaction between us and whomever we are worshipping, this is not the One who is truly God. If the only reality (not emotions) that we see, feel or sense during our private or corporate worship is what we conjure up by ourselves, then we are not worshipping the only true God. If what other people make us do or feel is all there is to our worship, then whomever we are worshipping is not the One who is truly God.
Any god that is passive but not actively self-affecting and self-effecting is not the One who is truly God. Any imagined or concocted god that is not absolutely wise, good, just and powerful, and does not have incontestable authority to control all things is exactly that – an imagined and concocted god. I personally would not yield the control of my life over to such a god because I can and will resist him.
As for the One who is truly God, I cannot and will not resist Him simply because He has absolute and incontestable authority. He is God. He is self-effecting with unstoppable power. He lives eternally. He is absolutely wise, good and just. He does not share His sovereignty. Therefore to resist Him is not only foolish and ultimately futile; it is detrimental. We would all do well to listen to Him and do what He says. It is idiotic to think that we are autonomous and can take care of our own affairs. It is worse to take God for granted because He is good and does not obliterate us from existence when we ignore Him.
Yes, there is present blindness that is causing people to ask silly questions. Some people ask: “If there is a good god, why are bad things happening? This is because we think that God exists only to cater to human interests and well-being. This makes us into being his gods that he must serve. God serves no one. He is God. There is a coming reckoning when the fullness of His sovereignty, power and justice will be consummated upon humanity. No matter how good we think we are, if we ignore God, we have sinned against Him and can only expect what goes with this. The questioning of God’s authority and goodness, or any foolish assumption that we are free to do as we please will also get what goes with it.
If we are yet to be convinced that we are not in charge, we shall find out the hard way who is truly in charge. This is a promise. It is not my promise; but God’s. We have no excuse because God has revealed the truth. He has given us common sense as well as practical realities that point to His existence and sovereignty.
If you already know about the true God who is in charge, this is good. You need to continue in your loyalty and obedience to Him. If you do not know, or you are still perplexed, then get in touch with me. I should be able to share more nuggets of truth from the Bible with you.
Copyright © 2007 by Felix Amiri.
All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in reviews, without written permission.
Similar discussions on this subject are provided in the author’s other work: “Vital Truth and Precepts”. Please feel free to contact the author if you have any comments or inquiries. You may also visit the Nuggets of Truth website - http://www.afisservices.ca.
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