March 2026 Reflections From Dave's Corner Of The World

The Double Standard We Live

As you can imagine, with those who show up at the doors of A Ray of Hope, there are some who are bitter at God over the circumstances in their lives.  If they have serious hurts, certainly God could have prevented them and God is to blame.  This is a discussion I have very often.  Let’s take a closer look.

 God, in His beauty and love, created us with a mind and will and, thankfully, He also placed within us His truth and wisdom as a guide in our lives (Romans 1:18-20).  He’s blessed us with the freedom to make decisions, good or bad, a freedom that we all want, but sadly, all too often that freedom brings poor decisions by ourselves and others.  Genuine love requires a conscious decision of the will, and that is the risk that comes with the freedom to love or not to love.  Choosing to love, when we might choose otherwise, becomes the proof of our love, and God is looking for that proof.  That proof is shown through our loving Him, our neighbor and obeying His commandments.

1John 5:1-4;  “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

If we have no capacity to choose, then there is no distinction between love and the lack of love because we could only do what God created us to do.  I might say, “I love you Lord!”  and God would say, “Sure you do, I gave you no other choice.”  We all want the freedom to make decisions, good or bad, we just don’t want others to have this freedom if it might mean pain for us.  Unfortunately, often it does result in pain and we can’t have it both ways.  I am convinced God chose right, even with the risk of pain.  Our lives are not centered around avoiding pain and suffering, they are centered around seeking and drawing close to our Lord in all circumstances, particularly in our pain and suffering.  We are called to be overcomers of this world.

So the wisdom and will of God was not to create man void of the freedom to make choices, it was to give man the truth and wisdom to make right decisions and to show man mercy and forgiveness when he was repentant for his sin.  Everything God created was good, from His physical creation (Genesis 1:31), to His perfect law (Psalm 19:7).  However, the real beauty of His love is shown through His perfect judgments where we err (Psalm 19:8-10), His personal sacrifice to pay the cost of our sin (1Pe 3:18), and His forgiveness and reconciliation if we are humbly repentant and turn to Jesus, receiving His gift of salvation (1 John 1:9).  As I look at everything He has provided for us, even through our countless failures, all I can see is tender, merciful and longsuffering love.  How amazing that our Creator has equipped us with everything we need to succeed, as well as everything to be reconciled with each other and Him when we fail.

It’s interesting how we can find fault and judge our perfect and beautiful God when others hurt us or when He judges our sin.  We want the freedom to make choices, but we blame the Creator when our choices or the choices of others go bad.  We, not God, are the problem.   We are the ones who are harsh and unjust, not only in our sinful nature, but in finding fault with God.  We have a great capacity to show compassion to ourselves and little to God or others.  People are going to sin and bring hurt to others, us included.  So, in truth, the opposite is true, freedom is found as we come to see our own darkness and, as we do, we will be more inclined toward personal reflection, taking responsibility and accepting God and others.  The root of bitterness is pride: we think we deserve better from God and others.  The root of forgiveness is humility, knowing God has been so merciful to us compared to what we really deserve.  As we come to see our own darkness, the more we will see God’s true beauty and the greater our capacity will be to forgive and love (James 1:23-25).  Same problem, different perspective.  Healing and joy are found in humility.

 As we change our perspective, and draw close to the Lord, we find healing, love, and joy in life.  We all desire to avoid pain and suffering, but when it comes, walking as Jesus walked through the pain and suffering should be our goal.  To be a healer and lover, we must be willing to focus on God’s will that we love and forgive, even our enemies.  God has done it for us, we can do it for God, which frees us to do it for our enemies.  This task becomes easier as our love of the Lord grows.    Amen?  Amen!  Dave.