God will not force any door open to enter the house of our hearts. He might send a violent storm on every side; the wind of his admonishment may burst doors and windows, indeed, shake the house to its foundations; but not even then will He enter. The door must be opened by the willing hand; then and only then will the foot of Love cross the threshold. He watches and waits to see the door open from within. Every storm sent by God is an assault in the siege of Love. The terror of God is only the other side of His love; it is love outside that would be inside - love that knows the house is no house at all, but only a place, until He has entered.
- paraphrased from George MacDonald
So, what can He do? What power has He allowed Himself over us? How free is our free will? I'm afraid I don't really know. MacDonald's quote seems to suggest that He's limited Himself to some extent. Lewis has said before that for whatever reason He has limited Himself, and with the allowance of all the suffering and pain that come with free will, He thought it worth it. That's as far as I know Lewis to have gone with the thought. Just because God thinks free will worth it does not make its consequences any easier to deal with: perhaps easier to accept in the long run, but not easier to take in the moment. Do the tools God does allow Himself to use indirectly influence our will, our 'free' will? Can a 'storm' break our resolve? Can the 'winds of admonishment' sway us to relent our vice grip on the doorknob of our hearts? I don't know the answer to any of these questions. I hope some day either I will know, or else that they won't matter anymore.
1 comment:
I think the storm can break some people's resolve and help them to realize they can't do it without Him. I know when He allowed my whole world to crumble, I fell toward Him. Some just harden their hearts all the more. Think of Pharaoh. God certainly did shake Egypt's foundation with the plagues, but still the Pharaoh wouldn't believe.
He waits for us to allow Him entrance because it's not real love if He makes us love Him. He does what He can without infringing on our free will because God wants our real love. That's why we want real love too.
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