Question:  Dear Greg,

            I have a problem.  I am in college.  I think I may have been called to be a teacher.  The problem is that I am happy to do my graduate work in education but I want to study what I am interested in.  But when I stray completely away from the teaching thing, something horrible always happens.  The last time I was considering something other than teaching my mom had a heart attack.  I am afraid something worse is going to happen.

            I am afraid to have fun.  I am afraid to have other interests because I am afraid of falling out of God’s will and then something really terrible happening.  What do I do?  Why is God punishing me?  Help!

            Sue

Answer:  Dear Sue,

            Your letter sounds more mystical and superstitious than it does rational and logical.  Some Christians believe that God never makes sense, that he is always waiting around the next corner of life with a big club to beat us over the head.  What does the term “falling out of God’s will” mean to you?  It seems to me, from the brief material you provide, that you are applying an extremely subjective interpretation--one based upon fear rather than love.

            God’s will for us includes much (it is a big topic), but it is fair to say that the fruit of his Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26) is high on that list.  I fail to find anything in this list about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc., talking about fear of God punishing us or about reading God’s will into events that happen in our lives or those of loved ones (your mother’s heart attack).  It would be difficult for me to worship God if I believed that he needed to cause loved ones to have heart attacks in order to get our attention.  Such a belief is primitive and not biblical.

            God is not upset when you have fun, when you laugh or when you smile.  One of the primary missions we have at Plain Truth Ministries is to tell people, and convince them from the Bible, that God is not mad at them.  God is not punishing you—you may be punishing yourself or you may be punished by concepts about God that others have taught you, but God is not punishing you.  God is in the salvation and rescue business.  He loves everyone, the whole world, according to John 3:16, and did not send Jesus to this world to condemn us, but to save us because he loves us.

            May God bless you, Sue, and help you to understand and know him for who he really is, not who you may think he is.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht