wrestling with God

I'm reading Leonard Sweet's new book Out of the Queston / Into the Mystery. First of all, writing-wise, he's eclipsed his earlier work. Waterbrook will help a writer do that. They have a wonderful editorial staff.

Although I'm only several chapters in, something has struck me very deeply and it is this. Allah will brook no questions regarding his plan, Buddah won't either regarding his ways. But Yaweh, when He is questioned: such as Abraham bargaining over the amount of people for which God would spare Sodom, or Jacob wrestling all night demanding a blessing, Yaweh rolls up His sleeves and says, "Convince me."

Now, as a Calvinist, that would normally make me bristle. But I can't get around the Biblical accounts of God doing just that, whether with Moses, Jacob or Abraham. In other words, God wants interaction. God wants to love us and for us to love Him and trust Him enough to come to Him with our doubts and say, "What gives? Can we negotiate?" And His answer is "yes."

It's given me a whole new view of God. Surely, yes, He is all-powerful, but He created us to be in communion with us, to interact with us, not just so we could obey. Shoot, as Sweet says, if that's all God wanted, He could have just stuck to the angels! I think the point of these stories is clear, God's not offended by our questions. God doesn't want blind obedience. Did you know that God stopped talking with Abraham after he was so willing, without question or a good wrestle, to sacrifice Isaac? So what was the purpose of the test? Read the book to find out Sweet's compelling view.

This book is intriguing and will help you answer some of those nagging questions like, ""How in the world could a loving God even do that whole 'sacrifice your son' thing? Why would God demand something that is obviously sinful?" It releases September 21st and is definitely worth a pre-order at the amazon link provided above.

grace,

lisa