Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Gen. 18:25)
MY TARGET FOR PITCHING PRACTICE was set, I thought, at a safe angle for the basement windows. The good news was that I pitched accurately and with enough velocity to send the first ball right through the target. The bad news was that the ball took an errant bounce and cracked one of the basement windows. Naturally, I wondered how my dad would react. It was a cool spring day, and I knew he’d want to prevent heat from escaping the house. So I put on my leather chore gloves, grabbed some tape and cardboard, and covered the cracked glass both inside and out. When Dad got home, I led him to the window. He examined my patchwork and nodded. “Next time pitch by the haystack. And cancel your Saturday morning plans. You’re going to learn how to replace a broken window.”
I counted on my dad’s wisdom and even temper to not escalate a broken window into a global catastrophe. Abraham knew the character of God well enough to trust that He would always find a way to spare the righteous even in the midst of great evil. God’s anger would never overpower His decision to love those who honored Him.
Sometimes people think God makes decisions on a whim. As His ambassadors, we can help others understand that God makes decisions in line with His character.
Tell someone today how you benefit from God’s actions being consistent with His character.
Steve Wamberg is a husband, dad, writer, and pastor who loves preaching, teaching, music, coffee, and Nebraska football.
