The Bible says WHAT?

Have you ever had a 'holy crap moment' when reading scripture? Yes, I, a pastor's wife used the word crap, but that's really the only way to explain these moments (Thank you Paul Veal). My husband is a Calvinist. It was something he warned me about before we started dating. So I researched what Calvinism is and didn't have any issues with the five points of Calvinism. And really I believed they were true to what I read in scripture. I especially felt as though I understood predestination because of a personal experience I had with a medical mission trip. However, about 6-7 months into our marriage we were reading 1 Samuel together and in the second chapter we came across this:

22 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the LORD spreading abroad. 25 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.

I remember my jaw dropping a bit, looking at my husband and stating, "What? It was the will of the LORD to put them to death? I don't know about that." Cory let me ponder for a bit but then we got into one of our 45 minute conversations in which he led me to Romans. We had read this book a few months prior but the verses that I'm pointing out now just didn't click like they did once I read 1 Samuel.

In Romans 8 there's a favorite verse that I know people turn to for comfort:

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

"All things work together for good", yes it's comforting especially in times when life just doesn't seem to make sense. We like to think that God is putting us through trials that will eventually end with our good. We expect the pain to go away, the money to flood in, and our marriages to be happy. But verse 29 gives an explanation of what the good is that God has intended for us, "he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son". Christ followers are called by the Father to be conformed into Christ, or called by God to be similar in the nature and character of God.

Romans 9 will help to explain a little more:

15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

As humans with human nature, we are deserving of wrath. We are not deserving of forgiveness or being saved. But we have a merciful, gracious and loving Father who gives us the desire to know Him and love Him and want Him. He calls us to be his followers, to conform to his image, and to be joyful in living for his glory.

This is good news people! First, when we speak the gospel into people's lives we are doing what God calls us to do, but it's his job to soften the heart of the individual who we are speaking to. God's grace does the hard work, we just have to know his word and speak truth into those who are placed on our hearts. Secondly, it helps me to forgive myself. God knows my weakness and it's his intention to use my mistakes and faults to show me his grace. This isn't an excuse to continue in sin, when God reveals a sin in our life we are to run from the sin and straight to him.

There is a mystery to this as well, which I feel does need to be addressed. Just as Eli's sons would not listen because of the will of the Lord, there are people in our lives that will suffer the same ending. It's a hard thing to grasp. I know 1 Samuel is addressing God's justice and he is just for punishing those who do not repent and turn from their sin. But the question remains: is it truly justice if God's will is to keep them from fully hearing and knowing the gospel? I do firmly believe that God is just in all he does but I know I will not completely understand this until I am in the presence of my Savior

Thank you to our Father in heaven who has given us his Word in order to know him more and has revealed himself to us through his Son, Jesus Christ!

*Please share any "holy crap moments" you can remember...