Have you ever been mischaracterized? Judged unfairly? Betrayed? Has someone lied about you and then others believed the liar?
What if we could know, from God’s perspective, what it’s like to passionately love someone who is indifferent to You, unknowingly lies about You and convinces others of their lies? What must it be like to watch that second generation of people who hear about You then believe the lies and perpetuate the lies to others, creating a third generation of deceived people?
I often wonder what it’s like for God to create someone for good things, give them life and freedom to either love You or hate You, and then watch them - in misery - try to find every possible thing to love … except You?
Would I give them a sense of sight to see snowcapped mountains towering above cows grazing in a green meadow, or a sense of smell to detect freshly baked cookies, or a sense of hearing for the music of laughter, or a sense of touch to differentiate Grandpa’s weathered hand from his great-grandson’s newborn neck?
Or maybe I would create you. You, who watch your son be born and you suddenly become aware of the marvel of life - what does it mean and what is the purpose? You, who now sit with a body given to you at birth in the humble home of your grandparents below snowcapped mountains rimming green valleys for the cows which Grandpa has milked for his 82 years as he sits by the fireplace holding your newborn, his great-grandson. You see him smile, hear Grandma laugh as she pulls your favorite freshly baked cookies from the oven. And you take a deep breath and close your eyes. Yes, you close your eyes with muscles powered by a brain, transmitted by nerve endings, all these things gracious gifts to you at birth, none that you earned, but that you now have power over.
And to whom or what will you give credit for giving you this body, this ability to see the bookends of your lineage, smell the cookies, and hear the laughter?
Because your freedom to choose whom you credit for these blessings is part of the design. You have liberty over your body, over your mind. No one can ever make you think anything except what you choose. And that is precisely what God asks of you. To think of Him rightly. To go directly to Him and no other. No human. No spiritual representative whether a priest nor imam nor bishop nor rabbi nor pastor nor guide.
God wants us to talk to Him directly through prayer and listen to Him directly through what He says about Himself, the Bible. The Bible is His love letter to us, a letter to children to understand and know Him. When you want Him, truly want Him, and are willing to believe Him for what He actually says through His Word, and trust Him, then He will supernaturally remove the things that blind and deceive you. The things that block any awareness of His truth and majesty will fall away and be replaced by spiritual sight, by newfound awareness and understanding and knowledge.