Street boys - reflections

Street boys - ponderings As I consider my reactions to the street boys, I recognize how easily a Godly desire to help someone can be corrupted into the original sin - the desire to be like God. I wanted to help the boys, and when they refused I started thinking about how to take the drugs from them, or to forcibly take them to somewhere to detox and go to school and experience what it is like to be loved. But all of those would require that I remove their ability to choose. If I was standing by Adam and Eve, would I have knocked the apple out of their hands? Maybe tied them up so they couldn't pick it? Put a fence around the tree? God gave them the ability to choose, but I would try to take it away. I would make them do right, meaning that I would take away the key thing that distinguishes man from creation. Rocks, trees, animals all obey God, and always and only act as God made them. But man can disobey. When we try to make someone do right, we are saying that God didn't get it right, and that we could make the universe better if we controlled everyone. But, even if we had the power, we would be going against how God made people. My other immediate desire is to alleviate the suffering. But would I have let Adam and Eve stay in the garden after their sin? God says that He disciplines those He loves. Would we step in between a human parent and their own loving discipline of their child? "I know Mommy said you can't have another candy until you finish your school, but you look so sad so here is another candy". Much suffering is on a different scale, to be sure, but human sin and God's wisdom are also on a different scale. What should be a two part reaction - awe at the amazing power of people to choose great good or great evil, plus sadness when the choice is evil; gets corrupted into a desire to fix God's mistakes and to reduce another human to a blindly obedient object of creation, or one that does not merit the discipline of a loving God. We demote God and simultaneously dehumanize the person. If we were God, we would only have made attractive, always obedient, rocks, instead of people. A lonely universe we would create. It is very hard to watch evil created by human choice (I have been surrounded and immersed in it for two weeks now), and we should look earnestly for where we can help brothers in need. Do not let that good get turned into even more evil by discounting the fundamental ability of humans to choose, and trying to reorder God's universe so that sin has no consequence or God cannot discipline. A few principles that appear right to me (although I am always open to more wisdom from God). Alleviate suffering caused by sins of others (help victims) where in my power. Do not lie to people and pretend that their sin is ok ("did God really say not to eat the apple?"). Do not lie to people and help them pretend their sin will not hurt ("if you really don't feel it anymore, maybe it is better if you divorce"). Be very careful that you do not try to make yourself feel good for helping when you are really undercutting God's discipline. Appreciate that the human ability to choose to do great good, necessarily is matched with ability to choose to do great evil. I do not like to admit that I cannot prevent or defeat all the evil in the world, but that is the case regardless of whether I like to admit it. Do the good works God ha prepared for me to walk in, instead of being overwhelmed by everything else.