Hashing It Out

Who would argue with God?  Those that love him.

Why would God bother arguing with us?  Because of his love.

Strange, but our arguments and disagreements with God are indicators of an intimate relationship.  We wrestle with those we love over matters that are important to us and so to find ourselves in a quarrel with the Divine is movement towards oneness.

Walter Brueggemann writes, “Hassling with God, which Israel did with a passion, is an act of faith.  It is a covenantal way of life, for it means that the two parties to the hassling do indeed take each other seriously and know that on their own they must come to terms with each other”.

Arguing with God is part of our mutual “working out” the relationship.  This is not merely “my” relationship with God, but rather the one we share in together (us and the Divine).  Heated dialogue reveals our passion and that which we hold close…whom better to reveal those things than to the One who placed them within our souls?

Do not refrain from questioning God on things you do not understand because of some false notion of piety.  Do not shy away from a slug-fest with the Lion of Judah because the tune “Jesus Loves Me” prances in your thoughts.  Instead…

Unleash your fear.  Scream your apprehension.  Let the furry of your frustration fly.  Be relentless with your interrogation.  

Tell the Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob what you really think.  Argue with vibrato and veracity because the relationship matters and love is worth it.