Forgive, Grow And Find God's Path for YouSample

God Knows What Is Best for Us

God wants us to love and follow him because he knows that is best for us. He reaches out to us as a loving parent, with kindness (see Hosea 11:4); he desires to set us free and sustain us. However, he allows us the freedom to leave his care and experience the bondage that comes from refusing to accept his love. So the message for us is to hear his call to follow him rather than wandering off the path he has so graciously laid before us and suffering in ways we don’t have to.

God doesn’t glory in our suffering. Just as a loving father’s heart breaks when he sees his children in pain, God wants to spare us pain. But when his words and the feedback of his other children don’t reach us, consequences are the only way to keep us from further damage. God is like the parent who warns his teenager that drinking will cause a loss of car privileges. First, the warning: “Stop drinking now. It will have bad consequences for you.” Then, if the warning is not heeded, car privileges are yanked. This painful consequence prevents a possible serious catastrophe: a drunk-driving accident.