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That was a good question. Sometimes Griff wished God would reach down and force people to do what they should do, instead of what they wanted.
“I wish,” he said honestly and maybe more fervently than he should have. After all, he was thinking about Chi. He wished God would make her do right. Make her fall in love with Griff instead of chasing after some lawyer who was hiding the fact that he was already married with a kid.
“That’s not the way God set the world up to work. And it’s not the way you would want it either, if you think about it. You don’t want people to like you because they’re forced to. You don’t want people to do things for you because they have to.
“You want people to choose to be kind to you. You want people to choose to be with you. You want people to choose to love you. God’s the same way. What fun is it if He forces everyone to love Him? He wants them to come to Him of their own free will.”
He sighed. “Eventually, the Bible says every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That means eventually God will stop giving us free choice, and He will force us to worship Him. We won’t have a choice at that point. But He wants us to come to Him while we’re still able to do it ourselves. He wants us to make that choice, to choose to love and serve Him on our own. It means so much more.”
“I guess I don’t care if my dad chooses to love me or not. I just want him to. I’m perfectly fine if God has to force him to.”
Those were honest words, and Griff figured Rodney probably didn’t mean to say them. That was his heart. He just wanted his dad to love him. And it was sad.
Griff couldn’t take the place of his dad, no one could. But he could try to help him. Had been.
Before he got a chance to say anything more, his phone buzzed. He flipped it over, looking at the text immediately.
I’m driving to Chicago, why?
I need to talk to you.
He wanted to say don’t text while you’re driving, but he needed to know where she was going. What she was doing.
Tomorrow. Tonight I’m checking out the Chicago Museum of Fine Arts.
Had he heard that there was some kind of gala there? It seemed like maybe Chi had mentioned it a time or two, and she probably heard it from her lawyer friend, which was why Griff had tuned her out. In fact, he remembered her complaining that her lawyer friend was going without her and wondering if she wasn’t good enough to go to something fancy like that.
He blew out a breath. If tomorrow was the earliest he could see Chi, he’d take her up on it. But there was no point in texting her again.
He didn’t like to admit defeat, and there was a nagging thought in his brain.
Go to her tonight.
He didn’t have anything that was suitable to wear to a gala at the Chicago Museum of Fine Arts. He couldn’t go to that.
Go tonight.
Was that the Lord? Or was that just him wanting to go, to try to save Chi before it was too late? Although, he supposed there was no such thing as too late. Unless she died. And he didn’t think the lawyer wanted to kill her. He just wanted to use her, use her innocence or her lack of knowledge against her. String her along, letting her think that she was going to be getting a ring, putting her up in some penthouse as his mistress, without her really even realizing it. Thinking she was the only woman in his life and the woman he would eventually be marrying.
“Will you do me a favor and think about what I said?”
“You said a lot today. Normally you don’t talk that much. I should have been taking notes.” Rodney’s voice was back to being sarcastic and bitter.
“I guess I could tell you from personal experience.”
He really didn’t want to talk about that part of his past. He worked hard to let it go. He stepped away from everything. After he’d worked his way to the very top, thinking that would fill his soul. But there was nothing that would satisfy a soul outside Jesus. And he was a lot happier out of the rat race.
Except, Chi seemed to want someone who was winning the rat race.
The thought made him sad, because she was deceived as well.
He couldn’t fix anyone. Couldn’t convince Rodney that he was thinking the wrong thing. Couldn’t save Chi from making the worst decision of her life. It made him wonder if he could even save himself.
He couldn’t. Only God could.
I need faith, Lord. I’m feeling the need to do this myself. I don’t want to just let things go. Help me.
Go to Chicago. Tonight.
