Lately, I’ve been having some discussions with God. One’s that start out with, “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, God!” Explain to me why there is so much unnecessary hurt in the world. Why do bad things always seem to happen to good people? The good lives get cheated while the bad lives prosper. How can you call yourself a loving God and yet there is still so much evil among us? So much destruction and devastation. Why is life so cruel and unfair?
Through our discussions, I’m coming to realize there are two answers. The first can be summed up in the passages above from Revelation. Satan was forced out of heaven. He fought a battle and he lost and was thrown down to earth. It is where he rules and resides. Earth was the consolation prize for losing the battle in heaven. We live in Satan’s world. Every day we rage our own battles against Satan’s corruptness. In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul wrote to the church of Ephesus. He commands them to be strong in the Lord, to put on the armor of God, and to stand firm against the strategies of the devil. Paul warns that we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against evil spirits. Some of the armor he tells us we will need are the helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, and the shield of faith. These are all pieces that will help us with our daily war against Satan. He lost the war and isn’t happy about. His number one goal is to cause as much pain and heartache and anger in the on earth, in the hopes that he keeps people for turning to Christ.
The second answer I’ve come up with is that for God, there are no good or bad people. We are all on level ground and His children. When we go through something tragic and unexplainable, we get mad at God. We scream and yell and shake our fists at the heavens and want to know why! Why do you (God) allow such a horrible thing to happen to such a wonderful person? It’s not fair. But the thing is, evil isn’t fair and it doesn’t come from God. It can’t. Evil…in all its different shapes and disguises…is a product of the devil. As followers of Christ, we have the assurance that when evil presents itself, we are not a lone soldier on the battlefield. The book of Joshua tells us to be strong and to be brave because we are not alone. God longs for his children and He desires for us to turn to Him, especially when we are heartbroken. I feel He longs for us to find our comfort in Him. I read a quote by Steve McVey in his book Grace Walkthat really made sense to me…” God will allow the burden to be greater than you can bear so that you will finally allow Him to bear it for you.”When we make the decision to lay it all at the feet of Jesus, whatever we’re going through, we are given a peace that can only come from God. He is strong enough to take on our rage and our hurts and to all the “why’s” we scream. He will endure all the anger we throw at Him and when we are done, He will wrap us in His arms and love us. He cares for us and He will fight for us, we just need to let go and let Him.
“They will fight you, but they will fail. For I am with you, and I will take care of you.
I, the LORD, have spoken.”
~Jeremiah 1:19~
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