Some William Lane Craig

Free will and foreknowledge.

F.A.T.

FAT Tuesday. That was the name of our high school Bible study/small group night. The acronym stands for Faithful, Available, Teachable. It's a concept that I've been forced to re-examine lately. Although I grew up understanding the biblical doctrine of sin and total depravity, in practice I tend to believe the best about people. It is very difficult for me to this day to understand why someone would refuse to forgive, choose drugs over family, or intentionally inflict pain with cruel words. In the last two years I have had to wrestle with dark questions and face the truth that people often refuse change. No logic, no reasoning, no pleading, and no threats can melt the hardened heart. One of my favorite verse of late has become Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings." I know a lot of people claim to be experts on the "inner man." Are they really? Humans are so wonderfully complex. There are days when I think that I hardly know myself let alone someone else. God is the expert on the heart. He alone knows how to soften the hard heart. The sad truth is that few people are turning to him these days. Over the last two days I have prayed, cried, reasoned, and pleaded with many different young girls about a variety of issues. Very few listened to anything that I had to say. And it was extremely painful to watch them make mistake after mistake and then grow angry and blame God when they felt the consequences. I was recently given this advice: I can't make people change or make them listen. I need to invest my time with those who are FAT (faithful, available, teachable). I know that it is good advice, but part of me still struggles with it. After all, who will pursue the lost and hurting if everyone just focuses on the FAT? (God will). And I am reminded that God's timing is perfect. And I am reminded that many of those teachable people have passed through seasons of rebellion and hard heartedness. God reached them and turned them around. I don't have the answers. I have to remain under the authority and wisdom of my Lord. He is the real expert.