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It is a characteristic of human nature that we think in terms of duality. Much of the time we understand and define things by their opposite, for example, light/darkness, good/bad, short/tall, wide/narrow, shiny/dull, etc. Because of this, we have come to live in a world dominated by the choice of either this or that, and we know that choosing one thing or option necessarily means NOT choosing, or excluding all the other options.
But that is only true in this human realm of time and space existence. God does not have to choose. He is not confined to an either/or mentality. God's reality, the realm of eternity, is inclusive...in other words, both/and.
We see this illustrated in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Often, so much emphasis is placed on the fact that the father ran out to meet the younger son after he had come to himself in the hog pen of life and returned home, that we forget that the father also left the party and sought out the elder brother whose feelings were hurt that no celebration was given in his honor for his years of faithfulness.
Both sons had done something "wrong" - the younger had misspent his father's money on riotous living, but the elder brother's "sin" - if you want to look at it in those terms - was the sin of being judgmental. Instead of being happy his brother had come home, he was angry that he, the one who had remained at his father's side performing his duties, was being overlooked and he felt unappreciated.
Both sons' choices had led them both down very different paths in life, but the father, in his infinite wisdom reached out to both his sons, loved them both the same, and met each of them at their place of need.
Don't fall into the trap the "Elder Brother Syndrome," judging the lives of others and thinking that you have missed out on something. Do not feel that just because another is being celebrated, that you have been passed by. God is ALL and does not live in the world of duality that we do. There is enough of His love and favor to reach out to all who are in need, even when those needs are very different in nature. God's love includes all and excludes none.
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