A post showed up on my Substack newsfeed. It had barely been posted a week, yet it already had over 9k “hearts” and 1.2k “comments.”
What on earth was so compelling about this post that the algorithm had deemed it worthy to make it go viral??
It was a long post … a lengthy read!
The post was by a woman who shared how she had been at her boyfriend’s place working late one night, while her boyfriend dozed on the couch next to her. According to her post, her computer battery died when she was right at the end of what she was working on. So, she reached down and grabbed her boyfriend’s computer from off the floor to finish up the last bit of what she was working on.
Upon turning her boyfriend’s computer on, she was greeted with a screen showing the recent chat he had been having with ChatGPT. He had been sharing his deepest, most private thoughts with ChatGPT regarding his relationship with her.
He had been sharing with ChatGPT his doubts as to whether or not he was really attracted to her. He had been sharing with ChatGPT his fears about whether or not this relationship would work. He had been sharing with ChatGPT how her faults, flaws, and failures were a concern to him.
Upon seeing this peek into the deepest, innermost private thoughts of her boyfriend … this woman was filled with seething rage. She immediately slipped out from underneath her boyfriend’s arm, as he dozed peacefully on the couch. She gathered up all her belongings from her boyfriend’s place. And she drove back to her own place!
She dumped the boyfriend in a blaze of fury!
She proceeded to share in her social media post how the boyfriend had come groveling and begging on her doorstep with many tears, pleading for forgiveness.
Forgiveness was not something she would give him … evidenced by the fact that she had written a social media post to publicly “torch” the boyfriend and “set him ablaze”! Via her social media post she was meting out “justice” against the boyfriend for his deepest, innermost thoughts. By means of her social media post she was inviting the entire world to come witness her fiery vengeance … and even contribute to the “blaze” by adding commentary.
I did not bother to read the “comments.” I can only imagine … probably lots of “gas” added to the “blaze.” Probably lots of “logs” tossed onto the “blaze.”
My immediate “blink” reaction after reading her very lengthy post was: “God knows our deepest, most private, innermost thoughts … and yet God doesn’t immediately “set us ablaze” with fiery vengeance.
He could if he wanted to.
Just last blog post I wrote about how God is a consuming fire!
Here is the photo I used for the last blog post. God is a consuming fire!
And yet, the woman who wrote the social media post seemed to think herself as being in the place of God. She viewed herself as the “consuming fire” worthy of meting out fiery vengeance against all perceived injustice. She had only had the tiniest peek into the deepest corners of her boyfriend’s thoughts … and yet for that, he must be punished! Punished to the utmost!
What if we all knew what each other were thinking??
God knows all our thoughts.
God knows all our doubts.
God knows all our fears.
Deep down, in our most private innermost thoughts, when we doubt God’s goodness … God knows. God knows every thought we think. And yet he doesn’t respond with fiery retribution to punish us!
Deep down, in the deepest places of our soul when we wrestle with “Can I really trust God??” … God knows. When we doubt God’s love for us … God knows.
When we struggle with whether or not God exists … and when we struggle with surrendering our life to Jesus, God doesn’t dump us in a blaze of fury for having these questions and private struggles in our soul.
When we make mistakes and we come with tears asking God to forgive us … God doesn’t parade it all in front of the entire world … inviting everyone to come “torch” us too!
“But Jesus knew what they were thinking …” – Luke 6:8
“Jesus knew their thoughts …” – Luke 11:17
“Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts …” – Mark 2:8
“Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, ‘Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?’” – Luke 5:22
“Jesus said to them, ‘You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts.’” – Luke 16:15
“Jesus knowing their thoughts …” – Luke 9:47
“Death and Destruction lie open before the LORD – how much more the hearts of men!” – Proverbs 15:11
“O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind …” – Jeremiah 20:12
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit; it judges the thoughts and intents of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” – Hebrews 4:12
Concerning the woman who dumped her boyfriend in a blaze of fury, ultimately the root of the whole problem is this right here:
“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” – Hebrews 13:4
This woman needs Jesus!
The former boyfriend needs Jesus!
Any relationship we have in life … it needs Jesus!
When we repent of our sin and surrender our life to Jesus Christ, God takes away our old sinful nature and God gives us a brand-new nature. God gives us his very own nature … via the Holy Spirit living within us.
Now, with the Holy Spirit living within us, we have the power and the ability to forgive … just like God forgives us! We no longer have any reason to dump those who wrong us in a blaze of fury. We can forgive.
With the Holy Spirit living within us, we have the power and the ability to show mercy to others … just like God shows mercy to us!
With the Holy Spirit living within us, we have the power and the ability to respond in grace and kindness to others … just like God shows grace and kindness to us.
With the Holy Spirit living within us, we have the power and the ability to show compassion towards others … just like God has compassion for us.
When it comes to having relationships with each other … we need Jesus! We need the power of the Holy Spirit!
God and God alone is a consuming fire! He could “torch” us if he wanted to. Yet God chooses to forgive us … God chooses to show mercy towards us … God chooses to have compassion for us.
God and God alone knows every thought we think. And yet God chooses to give us grace … God is patient with us … God shows kindness to us.
Thank you God that you won’t ever dump us in a blaze of fury for knowing what we think. Thank you God for your forgiveness. Thank you God for your mercy. Thank you God for your compassion.
Thank you God for giving us grace. Thank you God for being patient with us. Thank you God for your kindness towards us.
Thank you God for loving us!
