Most of us grew up taking some sort of music lessons. For me, my instrument of choice was the violin, of which I became quite fond. I was never very good, but I did truly enjoy playing it.
In fact, I still have my violin. This violin has been through many cross-country moves. It has endured years of moist Pacific Northwest winters, and the sweltering heat of many Augusts.
The strings are loose and flabby; the tone is gone. If I were to tighten the strings today, in an attempt to achieve the correct pitch, no doubt the strings would snap and break.
Tension.
As we read through the Bible, we come across difficult passages such as Romans chapters 9-11. God’s Sovereignty … vs. … human will. There is tension here. It is so hard to understand!
Some people “pull the string tight” when it comes to the issue of God’s Sovereignty! Tighten up the string!
Yet … if we tighten the string too much … the string will snap … the music will be lost.
Some people don’t tighten the string at all. To tighten up on the issue would be taking things too far. The string is left just as it is … loose.
Yet … if we leave the string loose … the string will not vibrate at all … there will be no music.
We have to learn to live with the tension.
Will we ever fully understand the relationship between the Sovereignty of God and human will?
No. No we will not. “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord?” – Romans 11:33-34
Some things are only for God to know. They are beyond our comprehension.
And so, we live with the tension. For it is only in the tension that the beautiful symphony of God’s grace and salvation can be played out in our lives.
