PARODOX  



     A paradox is a very hard concept to grasp.   Something is and is
not at the same time.   

     The philosopher  Aristotle said,  “A, cannot
be A, and not A, at the same time”  A paradox is exactly that.  
      We live in the paradoxical tension created when the best and the
worst walk side by side.  I heard a man say, “we are spiritual
beings having a human experience.”  
    The most mind blowing paradox of all  is this one,  God is
sovereign  at all times and man has free will at all times. Another
way to say it is, God is totally in charge at all times and yet never
once violates our free will.
     How can that be?  How can that work.
     Free will has to be freewill or it is not freewill. If it is only free to
choose sometimes then it’s not freewill.  That would be selective
freewill.  Kinda like a dog let off the leash to go run and potty
where it wants to and back on the leash. We are free to choose,
24-7 - 365days a year for our respective life time.  
    God never violates that.
    HOWEVER,  God to be God has to be total at all times or He
has a weakness that could be exploited.
    I have heard the reasoning that He can block out Himself at
times by choosing not to know something and then He can come
back into the picture and solve things.

     That’s human reasoning for something  that can’t be grasped but
an answer is needed.
     God, to be God knows everything-past-present-future and he
knows it all instantly as now. He does not see it on a line like we
do, yesterday-today-tomorrow.
     God says about Himself, ”I am the alpha and the Omega, I am
the beginning and the end.” He said, “Jesus Christ, the same,
yesterday, today, and forever.” He said, “ I am the Lord God, I
change not.”
     God knows all and is in total control at all times and yet His offer
stands, Choose you this day whom you will serve.”
     He knew me before time existed and yet He created me with
choice! I am free to choose what I want!
     There ARE things I don’t have a say in; I cannot choose all of
the thoughts that flow steadily through my mind.  I can choose to
dwell on them, accept them, not accept them but where the come
from I don’t know -- I cannot predict a mood swing or an emotional
event or a sudden close call or why I suddenly turned right instead
of left or any of the thousand daily things that come around me.
     Why suddenly do I feel like going for pizza  instead of barbecuing?
     How is it that I can sit in a restaurant and people I haven’t seen
for a while suddenly take an extra 30 minutes of time?

     These are things I can’t choose but God can control.
  
     God say to each of us “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”   
     David in the Psalms says ,”Though I make my bed in Hell thou art
there.”
     We can choose what we want, go where we want  and do what
we want but God is still in control. He has promised to enter into
all things to work His good it says in Roman 8:28.  
    God is the eternal One, the self-existent source of all being and
the One to whom all moral beings are responsible.
    One of my all time favorite authors Max Lucado, said in his
wonderful book, In The Grip Of Grace,
    “Ponder the achievement of God.  He doesn’t condone our sin,
nor does he compromise His standard. He doesn’t ignore our
rebellion, nor does He relax His demands. Rather than dismiss our
sin, He assumes our sin and, incredibly, sentences Himself. God’s
holiness is honored. Our sin is punished…and we are redeemed.
God does what we cannot do so we can be what we dare not
dream; perfect before God”
    Wonder of wonders---The paradox of the co-existence of Gods
sovereignty and mans freewill……………David