deus ex machina

i'm guilty of praying for quail. i think the Heavenly Storyteller likes a good story, and not one that finishes with a jolting deus ex machina. a finely crafted story with twists and turns makes for much better reading than one where God pretends He's a deist, and finally when His people can do no more He swoops in for the rescue. first of all, i can't do anything on this journey. francis shaeffer talks about a moment by moment faith (the same faith of justification) that leads to glorious sanctification based on nothing but Christ's "it is finished." so every step on this journey is by this 5 year old faith in a finished work. no diest-god here. secondly, when i start to pray for deus ex quail, i'm denying a personal GOD. i put my faith in a god who ignores my cries for help while he sacks out on the couch showing up at the last minute to drop quail in three foot piles. oh, and what was your name again?

so when i have moments of quail-wishing, expecting GOD to ignore me, i must flee to the personal, present GOD of the universe who's pillar of fire has never left me for a moment. sans deus ex machina...