“Is God Allergic to You?”
Some of us may feel as if God is allergic to us. Yes, I often feel that way myself.
A friend of me did an online post in which he noted that his rescue cats, once their new master had earned their trust, would climb in his lap and purr contentedly. My friend concluded with a challenge to his readers to trust our Heavenly Master who has rescued us, and to be contented with what God gives us.
Contentment doesn’t come easily for me. Sometimes, it doesn’t come at all. I needed to hear about my friend and his cats. And, of course, I can never hear too much about God’s provisions.
One of the comments from a reader of my friend’s post was, “I’m allergic to cats. I sure hope God isn’t allergic to me!” My feline mind immediately jumped off the lap, and began to play with the notion of God being allergic to us.
There are some theologians who say that God is so holy that he can’t stand human sins, that God is, as it were, allergic to human wrongdoings. Perhaps they are right. I know that these thinkers are trying to safeguard the holiness of God, and also point out the deadly seriousness of sin. Points well taken!
However, this doesn’t mean that God is allergic to either sin or to us. According to the writer of the Gospel of John, Jesus was God who had come in the flesh. According to the New Testament, Jesus was God crawling into small, nasty cages to rescue us. Some of us bit him a lot in the process. He knew that we didn’t know any better.
And, according to all the Gospel writers, Jesus seems to have hung around with sinners. Good thing. We all are sinners—especially those of us who are pretty sure we’re not especially sinful sinners.
So, if God isn’t allergic to us, and if he is a most trustworthy of Rescuers and Masters, we should probably crawl up on God’s lap and purr contentedly. Don’t worry: It’s a big lap. There’s plenty of room.
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