My posts are biased toward our responsibility rather than God’s sovereignty: “Whosoever will may come” rather than “Many are called but few are chosen.” Both tests have their place, but too often we allow experience to determine theology, and having begun as bright-eyed Arminians end up as bleary-eyed Calvinists.
Age and decreasing vigour are responsible for this, as are failed expectations. These are reasons why our faith does less for us than Abraham’s faith did for him. His faith rejuvenated him! (Romans 4:20) If we are strong in faith, we will stand firm, but if we are weak, we will wobble.
God’s sovereignty means that there are some things that He alone can do, and this being so, our focus ought to be on the things we can do. We know that not everyone will respond to the message, but our brief is to witness, not to determine who’s in and who’s out.
I would rather be chastised for being over-enthusiastic than for dragging my feet spiritually. Don’t drift downstream with the current but rather swim upstream against it! When that crusty old evangelist Smith Wigglesworth said, “If God doesn’t move me, I’ll move God”, do you think heaven was horrified? I don’t. God moved him to step out in faith. Very likely the angels said to themselves: “He’s been reading Hebrews chapter 11 again!”