In the past month, I have been ministering in several places, and have come upon a few ‘hard cases,’ people who hear and acknowledge the truth, but still want to go their own way.
One young man asked for prayer for a job. He got his job within two days. I suggested to him that there was a hindrance to his prayers being answered, for his dreams being realized. He acknowledged that he still liked sex with young men. He said he would like to change, but couldn’t. We worked with him for some time, and finally he came to the realization that he had but to choose to stop, and he could. He thought for a few moments, then asked "If I stop, what will God give me?"
He had received a job when he asked. He had received friends when he asked. I asked him what more he wanted from God. God had already given life, His own life upon the cross. God had already given all!
The young man said he wanted his dreams to be realized. I asked how old he was, and he refused, saying it had no relevance. I reminded him Joseph waited some 16 years, Abraham had waited 25. He acknowledged he had waited much less than one year.
He was bargaining with God, when God had already given all, and was offering the dream at the price of obedience. The young man could not, would not, give up his vice!
Another was a woman who was having severe difficulties for more than two years. She was hanging around Christians, but rejected a God who allowed suffering such as she was seeing. She is a race car driver, one of the tops! Some years ago, she had a death experience, with the black tunnel and bright light at the end and all. But her experience was a bit different. About halfway there, a figure stood before her. She could see only the shadow, because of the light behind. The man caused her to turn around and return.
I asked her if she had ever considered just who it was that had the power to send her back, or send her onward, who had met her in the tunnel. She said she had never given it a thought. She still did not want to explore this question, it seemed irrelevant to her. I told her I thought maybe whoever it was that sent her back had a reason, and perhaps she should consider thinking about who sent her back, and why. I suggested that God sometimes had to get our attention, and the Bible sometimes causes problems in our lives to accomplish this (Hebrews 12:6,11). If we aren’t corrected, he must resort to something stronger.
She did not seem to want to consider this possibility. Yet she continues to experience increasing pain and difficulty in her life, refusing to seek God or His will or purpose for her life. I am fairly certain that as soon as she seeks who it was that sent her back, and why, that these problems will cease.
We all are like these two in some ways in our lives, just not to the extent perhaps of these two. We have ‘blind’ areas of our lives, little habits or addictions we think are not too bad that we refuse to give up. Jesus gave all, so that we could have all. Yet we must exchange our bad habits in order to acquire the good habits that will allow us to live the abundant life he offers. We are all a bit rebellious and stupid this way!
