I used to have a friend who said he might go to a church that didn’t preach hellfire and brimstone. He didn’t believe in the existence of hell; “If God is good he’d never send people to hell,” he’d say. A self-declared genius, my friend believed that the Bible is a fictional piece of work, written by men, designed to control the population. Do you believe the unbelievable accounts of the Bible? Does your human intelligence tell you that miracles are not possible; if it can’t be explained then it must be a lie? Can you believe that a good, kind, gracious, loving, and forgiving Father would allow any of His creation to perish?

Are you familiar with the term “tough-love?” I have had a few opportunities to experience that feeling while raising kids. Trying to teach a child that their choices will define their lives sometimes requires separation. I loved my boys enough that I had to stand back and let them pay the price for their decisions; yes, it was hard, and yes, it hurt me too, that’s why it’s called tough-love. Father gave all of us freewill but He warned us that our choices are important, the difference between life and death. There are times He needs to leave us on our own to see what life lived on our own terms will lead to. When we don’t value His opinion, we don’t respect Him and we don’t show Him love, there has to be a consequence. It is always Father’s hope that it leads us to turn back to Him willingly and cry out for forgiveness.

Following the reign of King Josiah, Judah was led by four more kings who were rotten to the core. Finally, Father had to strip them of everything; their possessions, homes, temple, freedom, and in many cases their lives. Did He want it that way? They didn’t care what He wanted. I see a Father who knows the best route and the pace we should go. He tries to share it with us but many refuse to listen. So He uses tough-love. “The source of all this doom to Jerusalem and Judah was God’s anger–God turned his back on them as an act of judgment.” (2 Kings 24:20 Msg) He didn’t hate them, He just honored their choices by getting out of their way. His desire was that they would see the benefit of doing life with Him, and return, willingly. 

He intended for us to happily live in fellowship with Him but being the stiff-necked people we are, many of us think our human intelligence is all we need, until Father shows us that intelligence apart from Him is nothing but foolishness. While it may begin with anger that stems from disrespect, tough-love is still love and no one loves like Father God. 

I don’t know who said it but it’s true: “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you it’s yours. If it doesn’t, it never was.” Father sets us free, the next decision is ours. Will you run to Him or run away from Him?