Avoiding Assumptions

April 14, 2017

Day 104: The Life Preserver:
"The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them." —Psalm 145:18-19

I find it interesting that Anderson believes that anyone who perished on the Titanic went to heaven—if they cried out to God.

Anderson and his wife went to Ireland and visited the Titanic Museum in Belfast. While they walked the corridors Anderson says that a sense of reverence overcame him. "I thought of how there must have been a flood of desperate prayers as those 1,500 men, women, and children called out to God to save them before they took their last breath." He continues, "Reflecting on those desperate cries for help, I realized that although those people perished, God heard each voice that cried out. He answered their prayers, not by bringing them safely to New York City as they had planned, but by bringing them directly to his dwelling place for them in heaven." He says that today's verse reminds him "that even amid great tragedy, God's arms are outstretched to all who want to be saved."

I don't know why this story has left me feeling skeptical. I think it's great that Anderson believes those people went to heaven. I am certain he finds that reassuring. I'm just not sure we can make such statements. He doesn't know, I don't know, so how can we say really? I'd like to think that's true. I mean, after all, it would be pretty heartless for God just to ignore their cries for help. I can't see Him doing that, but I feel that we should avoid making such blanket statements. (That's how I feel today, who knows what I will feel and think tomorrow). We say things just to make ourselves feel better. The Psalms are essentially just that. Men crying out to God and reassuring themselves that He is indeed listening.

It may sound like I don't believe that He is, which is not the case. I have faith that He hears us and He answers our prayers and our cries for help. I just don't want to assume that my faith is the same as someone else's, whether that is 1,500 people or one. Who am I to say one way or another? Who am I to assume what God will do or what God has done?  It's like Mormons baptizing people who are already dead, just in case. What right do they have? What right do any of us have to assume anything about someone else's walk with God.

All I can really do, with any certainty, is be grateful and show my gratefulness by loving others.