"Do You Want To See It Coming..."

"Do You Want To See It Coming..."

January 4, 2009

“Do You Want To See It Coming, Or Do You Want Me To Surprise You?”

I was watching an episode of Two and A Half Men last night after dinner. Alan is bemoaning the fact that his girlfriend - a pretty girl half his age with the common sense of a tree stump - is costing him so much money through her incompetence that he is forced to get a second job at a pizza parlor. While paying alimony to his ex-wife who took him to the cleaners in their divorce. Alan is whining and moaning at the kitchen table as Charlie is fixing his coffee. Exasperated at Alan’s whining, Charlie leaves the room.

“Where are you going?” Alan asked.

“I’m going to solve all your problems.”

A minute later Charlie comes back in the room with a baseball bat. He makes a motion with the bat toward Alan.

“Do you want to see it coming or do you want me to surprise you?”

The Lord is not only a God of mercy and compassion, he is also a God of vengeance. God says it several times in the Old Testament - “vengeance is mine.” The Lord certainly has a steady and far reaching right hand with which to yield righteous vengeance. But it should not be relegated to something as simple as a punch line, nor as sure a thing as a commandment.

Humankind has wielded war in the name of the Lord, but I do not think that he is a violent God. We bring the Lord’s vengeance on ourselves. And it has been many years since any human has been struck down by the Lord’s doing. But I do tend to think that God asks us whether we want to see it coming or be surprised. Then again, he may not actually ask us, but it is our choice.

If we are faithful, compassionate toward our fellow humans, obey God’s commandments, and follow Christ’s example, we can “see it coming.” We know what is in store for us. The Bible gives us a roadmap to salvation. The future is laid out before us.

But if we falter or lose faith or stop trying to communicate with our heavenly father, we are headed for the unknown. A place where we are no longer sure of our fate. We may on some level think that we are in charge of our fate. But we are wrong. Which becomes obvious to us when we have forced God to “surprise us.”

May we follow the Lord’s commandments. May we listen for what he is trying to tell us. May we follow Christ’s actions and deeds. Lastly, may we not stray so far from the Lord that we do as Alan did when he came to a realization about his situation, handed the baseball bat to Charlie, bent over and said “Aim for the cheap seats.”

Peace be with you.