But remember—he gave us free will.

He gave us a choice. This is a frequent question, "Why does such a good God let bad things happen?" My wife had this conversation today with a friend. Man will say he doesn't believe in God and yet, man is so quick to ultimately blame God for his problems. Why is that?

We want our freedom. We want choice. Good news - He gave us free will. "You want choice, here you go..." Think of it terms of abortion. You'll correctly guess that I am against abortion. Always have been. As the father of adopted children, I am more so now than ever. But I digress. Abortion. "I want a woman's right to choose...." OK, you want it...here you go. I'm not a woman and I've never had or known someone who has an abortion so this may seem harsh but wasn't "choice" made in the back seat of the car? Don't the young women who decide to have sex with their high school boyfriends make "choice" when they give over their bodies to them? Isn't there a reason the Bible says that sex should be saved for marriage? Why is that? Don't you think God knows the devastating consequences of sex before marriage and, God forbid, an abortion?

The woman's right to choose crowd wants freedom of choice. The right to choose is made when a couple climbs into bed. The conception of the child is the consequence of that choice. Peggy Noonan captured this better than I've ever heard stated when she said, "Anyone who buys a pack of condoms late on a Friday night knows when life begins - it begins at conception - because that is what they are trying to prevent." The conception is the consequence of an earlier choice.

In an other example - teenagers drinking on a Friday night. They know it is against the law. They know that it is dangerous and yet, they make the choice to drink. The DUI is the consequence of that choice. The kids have the freedom to choose - sex, drugs, rock and roll - and they have to live with the consequences.

And when the consequences come - and they always do - why does man (even those who don't believe) always ask, "Why would a good God let this happen?"

The ultimate consequence is being alone. You've been there. You know that feeling - when you were caught cheating on a test in high school, the first time your parents caught you sneaking out or sneaking in, being caught in a lie...once the music stops there is that sudden, haunting of "I am alone in this."

This is from Eldredge's book Epic...

"We seem to forget—perhaps more truthfully, we refuse to remember—that we are the ones who betrayed him, not vice versa. We are the ones who listened to the lies of the Evil One in the Garden; we chose to mistrust the heart of God. In breaking the one command he gave us, we set in motion a life of breaking his commands.

The final act of self-centeredness is seen in those who refuse to come to the wedding banquet of God (Matthew 22:2–3). They do not want God. They reject his offer of forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus. What is he to do? The universe has only two options. If they insist, God will grant to them what they have wanted—to be left to themselves."

Remember He gives us free will. Remember there are consequences. The greatest consequence of all is separation from God. The only thing that bridges that gap is the freedom that comes from trusting in Jesus. "My life is a wreck. I wanted freedom, I got it and it isn't working out so well for me. I cannot do life on my own. I need to trust in Jesus. I need to finally lay down my life, my goals, my greed, my ambition and my desire to be my own Lord and the Lord of Lords take control." In that one act of faith, you bridge the gap from an eternity of aloneness and separation and come into an eternity of glory.

Soar!