Open Theism vs. Savoring Jesus

My heart has been instructed today concerning a mere smidgen of the idea behind God using pain and suffering in this life. I am reading Life As A Vapor (as I have been rather obnoxiously mentioning these days) and today's portion was entitled: How Open Theism Helps Us Conceal Our Hidden Idolatries. Scandalous, I know. Read on.

Bad theology hurts people and dishonors God. Open Theism is bad theology. It is a newer movement that says, "God can't foreknow the good or bad decisions of the people He creates until He creates these people and they, in turn, create their decisions" (Greg Boyd, Letters from a Skeptic). In other words, God's foreknowledge is limited--massively limited.

Open Theism may help conceal deep idolatry in the soul. One of the great needs of our souls is to know if we treasure anything on earth more than we treasure Christ. Treasuring anyone or anything more than Christ is idolatry. Paul said in Colossians 3:5, "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you...covetousness, which is idolatry." If covetousness is idolatry, then desiring earthly things more than we desire God is idolatry. That means we must be more satisfied in Christ and His wisdom than we are in all our relationships and accomplishments and possessions on earth. 

Now how does Open Theism help us conceal from ourselves the idolatries in our souls? It ascribes ultimate causality for many calamities and evils to Satan or the autonomous will of man, not finally to the all-disposing counsel and wisdom of God above and behind Satan. 

He writes further:

Open Theism discourages us from asking what sanctifying purpose God may have in ordaining that our misery may come about. But in reality our pain and losses are always a test of how much we treasure the all-wise, all-governing God in comparison to what we have lost. We see this merciful testing of God throughout the Scriptures. For example, in Deuteronomy 8:3 Moses said, "And [God] humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone,, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." In other words, God ordains the hard times ("He...let you hunger") to see if we have made a god out of our good times. Do we love bread or do we love God? Do we treasure God and trust His good purposes in pain, or do we love His gifts more and get angry when He takes them away?

Okay, so good, right?
VERY challenging. No one escapes hardship in this life...and for a reason! God is drawing us to Himself! To taste and see that He is good (Psalm 34:8)...better than anything else on this earth. Better than marriage, better than children, better than money, better than health. Better. He is so good to reveal our hearts concerning idolatry because then we can repent (because of His grace and mercy) and know Him more fully. And be changed.