Chapter 9: Rationalization of Mankind
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If you are going to reason with God, you have to understand God’s
Word because that will be the basis of your ability to reason correctly. Ignorance cannot be pleaded as God has placed His Law on our hearts and in our minds. You can rationalize with man, but you cannot rationalize with God. He knows the inner workings of your heart and your motives.
You Cannot Rationalize With God!
For four days and nights I was reasoning intensely with God about the subject of my own rationalization. At the same time I had been rationalizing
in my own mind for several weeks about a subject that was gnawing at me. To put it bluntly, I found myself in a difficult position with God. On the one hand, I felt justified from a human perspective to rationalize about this subject. On the other hand, God ensured that I knew I was rationalizing.
I remember at one point I laid face down in a prostrate position on the floor and begged God to take the burden of rationalization off of my mind. I confessed to Him that I recognized that such rationalization was not walking
in the truth. You see I knew that rationalization is an opposing force to truth. You cannot be rationalizing and telling the truth at the same time. They are opposing forces and these two forces move in opposite directions.
To be rational is to simply tell the truth. With God Almighty, I was rational. In between conversations with God, I was rationalizing or as the dictionary says, “trying to make rational.” I was trying “to devise self- satisfying but incorrect reasons for my behavior.” Put another way, I was
trying to morph my rationalized thoughts into some form of plausible truth.
Within a few hours after I prostrated myself in prayer to God, He gave me release from the problem. He also gave me the message to share the
story with you as an illustration. That is why I had to spend four days in mental anguish over the issue. God wanted me to fully understand the logic and methods of mankind’s rationalizations. He reasoned that I could start by fully understanding my own areas of rationalization.
Copyright 2005 Edward G. Palmer, All Rights Reserved. Book of Edward—Chapter 9