If you grew up around me when I was a boy, there were six things that I hated, seven that I detested. (sound familiar?) Here was my hate list: school, reading, history, cats, pea soup, cauliflower, and the color green. I think I have a good read on why I hated each of these so much. I was so ADHD that I couldn’t focus and sit still long enough to learn. The first three on my hate list were torture because they required extended concentration. I didn’t have any. I was allergic to cats and will never forget my cat encounters and itching like crazy with hives. My mom made homemade pea soup every Tuesday night and it was awful. When my mom made me eat cauliflower, I got sick. And I detested wearing anything green because our arch rivals for my sports teams were from Wellsboro, PA, and their school color was green. Before you ditch this blog, I confess I thought I would never be writing this blog, because it somewhat blows my theology.
There are six things that God hates, seven that He detests. The things that God hates and detests are all destructive to our lives and relationships: God hates pride, lying, killing, plotting evil, wrong doing, false- witnessing, and sowing discord. And He never stops hating these destructive things.
So why does God go after our hate list? Why doesn’t He just leave us alone with our 6 or 7-point hate lists? We all have our “good reasons” for building our personalized hate lists. Right? I haven’t always liked God’s answers when He breaks through my hate with His relentless pursuit of my hateful parts.
Here’s how God started crushing my hate list. I think God went after my “I hate history” first. I’ll never forget the day He hit me right between the eyes with the truth. Like a voice from heaven I got nailed with this one: “It’s His-story.” Every piece of history God has been involved in. Throughout creation and history God has been at work engineering, orchestrating, drawing people to Himself through tragedies, and bringing good where everything seemed to be going bad.
When God called me to be a pastor, and I signed up for seminary at age 33, I got up at 4:30 a.m. to do my studies before my family woke up. I quickly discovered that I was completely wasting my time. I couldn’t focus or stay awake. Then a friend introduced me to coffee, and God turned me into a passionate student and focused reader. I loved learning. I became a life-long learner, and I’m constantly reading new books and passing them on to help others to grow.
Although I still don’t have the courage to taste my mom’s pea soup, I have a strange feeling that God isn’t going to leave me alone until I make friends with my mom’s pea soup that she and my dad love. But what happens when God starts using your spouse to mess with your hate list? Come on, God! Do you have to come from all angles to crush our hate lists? Guess what my wife snuck into my pizza crust this year? Yep, you guessed it. She makes cauliflower pizza. And I cringe when I have to write this. I love it, and we devour it in one sitting. Who would of thunk?
If I haven’t lost you yet on this blog, this next one blows my theology completely. Everywhere I go cats love me and follow me around. At least half of my family loves cats, and I’m allergic to them. I’m a huge dog-lover. When my son moved back home, my garage became his cat sanctuary. Tim the cat not only lives here, he loves me. Every time I look out in the garage, that cat is looking with his longing eyes saying, “Won’t you please come out again and pet me?” Sure enough, I get suckered into petting this cat. It has completely taken over my entire garage as if he owns it. All I can say is that the relentless love of God will pursue every part of us until His love has transformed us into loving all that He’s created. I haven’t admitted yet that I like Tim the cat, that would be too painful. But it’s happening.
I’m such a softie. I know green and pea soup are next. If you’ve not yet positioned yourself to encounter the relentless pursuit of God’s love, it’s going to happen. Not only will He not tolerate your self-hatred, or your hate of a person who hurt you in your past, He won’t let you keep any hatred hiding around in your internal caverns. I’m warning you. The Hound of Heaven won’t give up until His relentless love has consumed every part of you. I don’t like green yet, but I have a feeling it’s coming.
What’s on your hate list?
How has God been relentlessly pursuing you?
Has He crushed anything off your hate list yet?