Michael Kelley, Guest Contributor
“For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that he favored
us within the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:4-6
Every first-time parent is a bit naïve.
My wife and I certainly were.
For us, sixteen years ago, there were many firsts. First cry, first bath, first dirty diaper, first feeding, first sneeze, first outfit. It was amazingly cute at every moment. Pictures were taken to memorialize every one of those instances and more. Sitting in the hospital for those first 48 hours, it seemed like we were born to be parents (never mind the fact that some wonderful hospital people would come and take the baby away from us for a while when we needed to rest or eat dinner and then bring him back when it was time for him to be precious again).
And then we went home.
Fast forward about 2 weeks, and both my wife and I were walking around in a post-childbirth haze, having become zombie parents who couldn’t remember whether it was Tuesday or the color purple. Suddenly, all those cutesy parts of parenting that captured our attention in the early hours weren’t so cute anymore.
Instead, they were replaced with things like irrational diatribes to an infant, offering them everything you own if they would only stop crying at 2:30 am.
I suppose that’s how it happens with most parents. No matter how many books you read, classes you attend, or advice you get – no matter how prepared you think you are, it’s impossible to approach parenting realistically. You are, of course, going to be somewhat naïve.
But not God.
There is no divine naiveté there. He knew exactly what He was getting long before the word “Go.”
With full knowledge of the future, every right and wrong, every wise and foolish move, every act of devotion and betrayal, the Lord still chose us. He has never had that moment, Christians, where he looked at that little bundle of a spiritual baby in His arms and, in His frustration, wondered what He had been thinking.
Never. Because none of it takes Him by surprise.
Ever.
Again, here is the apostle on the subject:
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person, though for a good person, perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).”
God’s amazing grace is extended through the sacrificial death of Jesus, with the full knowledge that we cannot earn it. Yet the sacrifice is made anyway, with eyes fully open to the truth of our past, present, and future.
While we might look at others in our lives with doubt, thinking something like, “If they only knew,” we never need to do so with God.
He knows.
He has always known.
Yet, with a complete absence of naiveté, God still proves His love for us.
Every single minute of every single day.
DIG DEEPER
Read “Why Does God Love Us?” at GotQuestions.org
