Fred told me that when his son Garth was thinking about giving up, Fred said; "You give up and I'm out of here." The threat worked. Garth hasn't given up.
When I got home from the hospital and started to hug my girls, Kathy knew that the girls were showing symptoms of not feeling well. She put her body between me and the girls and said; "You get close to these girls and I'm leaving." The threat worked. Though hurt, I washed my hands and took distance from my girls.
Rebeca told me about her mother who said to her step-father; "If you don't go to the doctor, I'm divorcing you." The threat worked. The step-dad went to the hospital and found he had stage IV lymphoma.
Having experiencing a threat and hearing stories of threats, all in a matter of a few days, I began to wonder. Are threats Godly?
Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. So we may say with confidence the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can people do to me? -- Hebrews 3: 5,6
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38,39
There appears no threat of God in the crucifixion but when Jesus was crucified, one might think of God as absent, threatened or not threatened. From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" -- Matthew 27: 20 I believe Jesus fully human and fully divine. Perhaps when Jesus took the sins of the world upon himself he could not see the Divine, even within himself as he shouldered the weight of the world's sins. But, that does not mean that God turned away. Before death, Jesus embraced the divine. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. -- Luke 23:46
Jung testifies God is present, bidden or not bidden. I haven't heard God say "I've leaving, I'm out of here, I'm divorcing you." I believe God works God's power with a perfect love devoid of threats. I hear God saying I am with you even until the end of the age. God is abiding.
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