But for suffering...

It has been suggested to me that my hearing is not all that it should be.  The medical term for age-related deafness is presbycusis, just as the term for age-related vision changes is called presbyopia.  I do indeed suffer from presbyopia and began wearing bifocals a few years ago.  However, in that there is only one person who has challenged my hearing, and I myself have not noticed any change, I believe my auditory faculties are largely intact.  I believe the problem may be better described as selective deafness, as I appear to not hear only certain things.  In fact, I have had my hearing checked thoroughly and the only thing that can be seen on objective testing is some loss of my high-frequency hearing.  I think that explains why I only seem to miss hearing certain things from this one person; nagging is usually done in a higher pitched voice.

God as we know, is perfect in all respects.  Not only is He omnipotent but He is omniscient.  There is nothing He cannot hear or know.  However, I believe God may have selective deafness at times, and this is when we talk to Him and say, "But God, ..."  I don't think He hears much of what comes after that, and even begins drumming His fingers on the table until we are finished.  First of all, when we go, "But God, ..." it means we are trying to explain to Him something He already knows.  We are making an excuse. 

If we are suffering, and it is because of sin in our life and we are being chastened, we may try and explain our sin to God.  "But God, everyone else is doing it," or "But God, it is just this one time."  Or if we are being attacked during spiritual warfare, we may cry to our Lord, "But God, I don't want to suffer."  Perhaps we are stricken by illness, and it is an opportunity to demonstrate our faith in Christ, to bring glory to Him, and we are tempted to plead, "But God, I don't deserve this suffering."

We know that sin leads to suffering.  But suffering can also lead to sin.  Someone suffering in a bitter marriage may begin an adulterous affair.  Someone who has suffered misfortune may be envious of the success of another.  A person who has had great financial loss may become obsessed with money.  And in each of these cases, when that person speaks to God, they are essentially saying, "But God, I was entitled to do those things because..."  No, you're not.

And I'm not sure the words "But God, ..." are even allowed in heaven.  When we stand before our Creator for judgement, those who did not chose Christ as their savior are not going to avoid the eternal fire by saying "But God, ..."  He isn't going to hear what comes after that.  There will be no excuse, and that is sad because most of the human race is going to be saying, "But God, I was a good person and I did all these good things." 

If you are a believing Christian, you will spend eternity in heaven.  But we, too, will be judged on the works we have done and the life we have lived, when we face Christ who sits on His bema seat of judgement  (Romans 14:10 and  II Corinthians 5:9).  This is where we will receive our heavenly rewards based on how we have served the Lord.  How magnificent those rewards must be for those who have spent their lives earnestly seeking His kingdom in humble service to Christ.  I don't know about you, but I think I will really be too embarassed to say, "But God, I deserve more than this baseball cap."