In light of what has happened lately, I just want to take a moment and talk about the basics.
Just like 9/11, the tragedies of Connecticut and Portland will spark the age old question: Why does a loving God let things like this happen?
That's a tough one. Why does God let this awful stuff go on? Innocent lives taken because of one messed up dude. Kindergarteners! It is so easy to ask God where He was and why He didn't stop it.
What we have here is an amazing opportunity to share the good news. We just have to make sure we don't blow it by trying to answer that "Why" question.
You see that why-does-a-loving-God question isn't a question so much as it's a pointing finger. It's not an inquiry as much as an accusation. Another way of saying it would be, "Look at what you let happen God! A bad thing happened and you the 'loving' God sat back and did nothing! What kind of God are you anyway?" It's Satan's way of trying to shift the blame. Satan tells us that if we turn away from God, we will be happy. but when we do turn, bad stuff starts to happen and Satan tries to point at God and say, "Hey look! He said He was loving and sovereign and He let you mess up! He let you turn away even when He knew it wouldn't be good! And on top of that, He let the bad things happen to you without even trying to stop it! How dare He!"
Questioning why is normal and natural. We want to make sense of it all. We want to understand the world around us. We feel we have the right to know.
In the Book of Job we read about what a righteous man he was and how God had blessed him because of it. Then Satan comes along. He claims that Job will stop following God if he loses all of his blessings. So God lets Satan attack Job. Pretty soon Job has lost everything he owns, all of his kids and his health. His friends and his wife try to make sense of it all. They try to come up with reasons for why Job seems to have so suddenly lost God's favor. Even Job tries to figure it all out too. You would think that of anybody, Job deserved an explanation. He's sick and ruined and God doesn't seem to care. What kind of a loving God would do that?
The truth of the matter is that Job never got a reason for all of his suffering. Instead, after chapters of Job and his friends trying to make sense of it all, God speaks. He does not tell Job why, but basically tells him it's not for Job to know why God let it happen. The only reason Job gets is that God is God and Job needs to trust Him. Wow! That hardly sounds fair from a human perspective.
But God is God. He was the one that created the heavens and earth in six days. He was the one that made man and gave him life. God was the one that forgave Man gain and again I AM was the one that sent Jesus so that we could be saved from this awful existence. He created the universe, not you an me. It's not our place to have an explanation but to trust Him and point others to Him. You see, the whys and wherefores profit no one. Why a bad thing happened is not as important as fixing it.
And the thing is we really do know why. Let me give you a hint: it starts with a 's' and ends with a 'n', and God has the remedy.
So when people ask the why-does-loving-God question, don't try to have all the answers. Jesus is the only answer. He is the one that can mend a broken soul and fill it with His love. He is the one that comforts a hurting heart. Asking why isn't going to bring back those children any more than gun control will solve the violence. But Jesus can not only give peace to those who have lost loved ones, He can also turn such hatred into love.
Shake us up, Lord!
Just like 9/11, the tragedies of Connecticut and Portland will spark the age old question: Why does a loving God let things like this happen?
That's a tough one. Why does God let this awful stuff go on? Innocent lives taken because of one messed up dude. Kindergarteners! It is so easy to ask God where He was and why He didn't stop it.
What we have here is an amazing opportunity to share the good news. We just have to make sure we don't blow it by trying to answer that "Why" question.
You see that why-does-a-loving-God question isn't a question so much as it's a pointing finger. It's not an inquiry as much as an accusation. Another way of saying it would be, "Look at what you let happen God! A bad thing happened and you the 'loving' God sat back and did nothing! What kind of God are you anyway?" It's Satan's way of trying to shift the blame. Satan tells us that if we turn away from God, we will be happy. but when we do turn, bad stuff starts to happen and Satan tries to point at God and say, "Hey look! He said He was loving and sovereign and He let you mess up! He let you turn away even when He knew it wouldn't be good! And on top of that, He let the bad things happen to you without even trying to stop it! How dare He!"
Questioning why is normal and natural. We want to make sense of it all. We want to understand the world around us. We feel we have the right to know.
In the Book of Job we read about what a righteous man he was and how God had blessed him because of it. Then Satan comes along. He claims that Job will stop following God if he loses all of his blessings. So God lets Satan attack Job. Pretty soon Job has lost everything he owns, all of his kids and his health. His friends and his wife try to make sense of it all. They try to come up with reasons for why Job seems to have so suddenly lost God's favor. Even Job tries to figure it all out too. You would think that of anybody, Job deserved an explanation. He's sick and ruined and God doesn't seem to care. What kind of a loving God would do that?
The truth of the matter is that Job never got a reason for all of his suffering. Instead, after chapters of Job and his friends trying to make sense of it all, God speaks. He does not tell Job why, but basically tells him it's not for Job to know why God let it happen. The only reason Job gets is that God is God and Job needs to trust Him. Wow! That hardly sounds fair from a human perspective.
But God is God. He was the one that created the heavens and earth in six days. He was the one that made man and gave him life. God was the one that forgave Man gain and again I AM was the one that sent Jesus so that we could be saved from this awful existence. He created the universe, not you an me. It's not our place to have an explanation but to trust Him and point others to Him. You see, the whys and wherefores profit no one. Why a bad thing happened is not as important as fixing it.
And the thing is we really do know why. Let me give you a hint: it starts with a 's' and ends with a 'n', and God has the remedy.
So when people ask the why-does-loving-God question, don't try to have all the answers. Jesus is the only answer. He is the one that can mend a broken soul and fill it with His love. He is the one that comforts a hurting heart. Asking why isn't going to bring back those children any more than gun control will solve the violence. But Jesus can not only give peace to those who have lost loved ones, He can also turn such hatred into love.
Shake us up, Lord!
