“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is
still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”
Isaiah 46:10
I recently had a conversation with a dear friend. We talked for 3
plus hours about many things. One of which was discussing who is responsible
for all the “bad” and/or “painful” things that happen to us and to the
innocent. Is it God, sin and the fallen state of humanity, or Satan?? Or is it all of the above?? I walked away from our conversation feeling
like maybe I needed to revisit this topic in my own heart and mind and shake
loose anything that I have believed that is not truth.
In my journey to know
God, over time and many experiences, He has gotten bigger and bigger in my
life and I have grown more and more confident in Him and His presence and
control over MY life as well as ALL things on this earth. I don’t worry about
who will be elected President or the fallen state of our society because I know
that ultimately
GOD is on the Throne and ALL things will go according to HIS perfect plan
(thank you Jesus!!). But, even knowing that our amazing God is in control of
all things, there are still a few difficult areas that it is hard to believe He
could and would allow… namely all the horrible stuff that happens on this earth…
Does God really allow even those things? I have a difficult time wrapping my mind
around some of the horrific things that happen to people and innocent children…
And I truly believe He also has a hard time with it, so this area is a bit
“foggy” to me. Can a “loving God” be responsible for even the most horrible and
deplorable things that go on in the world? Or is it Satan? Or is it man? All of
the above or none of the above?
Does Satan have more power and control over the earth than
God? Can he do anything he wants to? Is God’s omniscience and unlimited power
unable to control or stop Satan’s destruction on this earth and in the lives of
people?? Is God surprised by terrorist attacks, natural disasters, car or plane
crashes?
As I ponder and wrestle with these questions, I can’t say
that I have “figured it all out” but in searching the Word I have found many
scriptures that would tell me/us that God can, will and does allow hard,
difficult and painful things in our lives for His purposes. During a VERY
difficult time in my life, even when I felt like I was following God’s will and
doing what He was asking me to do, it was incredibly painful and confusing. I
cried out to God one morning and asked him for the hundredth time, “GOD, did I
miss something!!? This just can’t be right! This just doesn’t make sense!” And
I heard Him very plainly say “Linda, I am
not a man that I make mistakes. I have created you and know every hair on your
head. I know how to speak to you so that you will hear me”. With that
statement He set my heart and my mind at ease… at least for a few hours anyway,
lol. But I will ALWAYS remember these words and that day He got so much BIGGER
in my heart and mind.
Because of my journey
to know God, and the things He has personally done in my life, and the
things that I have seen Him do in other lives, my understanding and belief is
that God is in absolute control of ALL things. While I realize that I DON’T
understand ALL the reasons WHY God does or does not do certain things, I have a
peace in knowing He is GOOD and that His plan is good, no matter what things
look and/or feel like. I think the “only” thing God does NOT have control over
is our “free will”… And I am sure that plays hugely into the trauma and pain
that goes on in this world. But I still
believe He works even those things out for the good of those who love Him.
I know this is a VERY tough subject for many people. And again,
I will speak plainly here and say that I will not pretend to know everything. I
am still on this journey to know God,
and I know there are MANY things I do not, and cannot understand while on this
earth. But this is where I am right now.
Will the “real” God, please stand up!
So, after wrestling with these questions and asking the Lord
to give me a greater revelation in this area, I feel like He reminded me of
some very important aspects of His character that are really important when we
think about these things. So I will just lay them out as major points that we
all need to be reminded of. The first thing I would like to lay out is who
God is. Is He the “god” we think He should be? Is He the
“god” that we can “figure out” and can predict? Is He the “god-genie” that we
can “rub” the bottle or say the “magic words” and He will do anything we ask,
in Jesus name? Is His arm too short or abilities too limited that He needs
“our” help to do things? Is He only able to do the things “WE” can do? Does He
need our prayers to change His mind and make Him want to heal people? Is God’s
primary concern our comfort, happiness and prosperity? No. I don’t think so. I
do not see any of those things in the scriptures.
But here are just a few scriptures that tell us who He
really is! Just to help us remember and get our minds right about who the REAL
God of heaven and earth is: “In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth… God
saw all that he had made, and it was very good…” Genesis
1:1-31. God SPOKE ALL
things into existence!!! With just words from His mouth! And then He “hand
crafted” Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed HIS breath of Life into him!
We are the clay, He is the potter… “Shall what is formed say to him
who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter,
"He knows nothing"? Isaiah 29:16
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life
was the light of men.”
John 1:1-4. God has ALWAYS been and will always BE the great I AM
(Exodus 3:14, John 8:58)
“Who among the gods
is like you, O LORD? Who is like you-- majestic in holiness, awesome in
glory, working wonders?” Exodus 15:11
“Then the LORD came
down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD.
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the
compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness,
rebellion and sin…” Exodus
34:5
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things
were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all
things hold together.”
(Colossians 1:15-17) Who are all these things created for?? They were
created BY HIM and FOR Him… Not for us. And who holds EVERYTHING together?
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, "who
is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8)
“…the Beginning and the End...”
(Revelation 21:6) “…the First and the Last...” (Revelation
22:13)
I LOVE reading these scriptures because it reminds me once again how
AWESOME is our God!
Inconceivable!
The second thing we
need to remember is just how inconceivable He is! Let’s look at the definition
of that word; “Not capable of being
imagined or grasped mentally; unbelievable. Impossible to comprehend or grasp
fully.” How many times have I “thought” I knew what God was going to
do… or how He was going to do it!!?? (Insert game show buzzer here!) No matter HOW
hard we try, we will NEVER be able to grasp, imagine or comprehend the
abilities or the ways of our God.
Here is a GREAT
scripture to remind us of how BIG and AMAZING and beyond our ability to
understand or comprehend… unless He
gives us revelation or understanding: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
Ok, wow. That is a
pretty good definition of how much greater He is than, me! Every time I think I “know” or “understand” what God is doing or going to
do, I ALWAYS end up blown away by what He ACTUALLY does!! He always comes from
an
entirely different direction
and timing than I expect. This sort of reminds me of my marriage. I typically “say” I know that men are different than
women, yet I continue to expect
Tom to think and act like me!! I realized I do the same thing with God too!! I
keep expecting Him to behave and think the way I do but, He does not,
and He will not… “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Oh Lord, help me
to “get this”!!
Another good
scripture is “… "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind
has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"
1 Corinthians 2:9 (Isaiah 64:4 quoted by Paul). No matter how hard we try, we
just cannot conceive of His ways and abilities. So, if we “think” we have Him
figured out… chances are very good that we are dead wrong!
If you haven’t seen
this video yet, I would encourage you to watch it now! That's My King.
The Lover of our
souls
Third, I think we
really need to truly understand and try to grasp God’s LOVE for us! We won’t really be able to until God reveals it
but we can always ask Him to! Here are some great scriptures to help us get
there: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 Did you hear that? At our VERY
worst, ugliest, disgusting, most sinful time in our lives, He STILL loves us,
loved us enough to die for us!–––––
“Dear friends, let us love one
another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and
knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7) Did you catch that? God IS love. Of course He is a multitude
of other things but essentially, He is LOVE.
We love because He first loved us. It is His nature to love and He cannot do anything but love. While
He may have other emotions, His core being is Love. This is an important thing
to establish because some of us don’t see God quite right and we may see Him more
as a harsh, critical, disciplinarian looking for ways to smite us (KJV) :) I don’t see him that way at all. I see His
amazing love for us everywhere I look, on the earth and in the Bible… and yes,
even in the Old Testament! Actually that is where I see it the most!
I had a season in my
life where I would listen to the Bible on my 40 minute commute to work every
morning and I went through the Bible 3 times, all the way through. The more I
listened, the more I saw God’s love for His people!! He begged, pleaded,
disciplined and warned the Israelites NOT follow after other gods but to follow
after HIM ONLY. He wanted them to live a safe, protected, life of peace under
HIS reign and knew that if they followed other gods it would NOT go well. He
wanted this so much that He “caused” all sorts of calamities to get the
Israelites to “wake up” and turn to HIM. Here are some examples. (I did a
search for the “I will” statements in the Old Testament): “So the LORD said, "I
will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--
men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the
air--for I am grieved that I have made them." Genesis
6:7
“I am
the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be
slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk
with heads held high. 'But if you will not listen to me and carry
out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail
to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do
this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever
that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant
seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you
so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over
you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you. 'If after all this you
will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over.
I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and
the ground beneath you like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain,
because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land
yield their fruit. 'If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me,
I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve.
I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children,
destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be
deserted…” Leviticus
26:13-33. There is more but I think you get the picture, you can read the whole
chapter to get a better feel for it. But, did you see all the horrible things
GOD said HE would do, and did?
“…I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every
town, yet you have not returned to me,
declares the LORD. I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was
still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from
another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. People staggered
from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not
returned to me," declares the LORD. Many times I struck your gardens and
vineyards, I struck them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your
fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me, declares the
LORD. I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men
with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils
with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me, declares the
LORD. I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were
like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,
declares the LORD. Therefore this is what I will do to you,
Israel, and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O
Israel. He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts
to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the
earth-- the LORD God Almighty is his name.” Amos 4 (Yikes!)
I know that these
scriptures are from the Old Testament, under the Law, and we are now in the New
Covenant of Grace but, will He not still do what He needs to do to get us to
turn/return to Him? Does his love for us change from one covenant to another? I
believe He will still do what He needs to for us to turn to Him and save our
eternal souls.
Eternal or
Temporal?
That leads us into another aspect of God that we
tend to forget and that is that He is an ETERNAL
God. His focus has been and will always be “eternal”. I don’t think He cares
nearly as much about our
“temporal” comforts as we do!! I believe He cares MORE about our “eternal”
lives and futures than our lives here on earth. Not that he “doesn’t” care at
all about it, but that he cares “differently” about it than we do. Scripture
mentions several times that our lives are just a “blink of an eye”, “here today
and gone tomorrow” like the “grass and the flowers of the field” (Luke 12:28,
Matthew 6:30, 1 Peter 1:24). So why would He pay more attention to our temporal
lives when our “eternal” lives will last SO MUCH longer!! It would make more
sense to care MORE about where we will spend eternity wouldn’t it? Don’t get me
wrong, I believe He does care about us at all times but His focus and
perspectives are primarily “eternal”. When I see things through the eternal
perspective, what God does seems to make MUCH more sense to me!! “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life for me will find it.” Matthew 16:25
If you are following
me here, you can see how pain, suffering and even death does not mean the same
thing to God as it does to us! We tend to call things “bad” based on how it affects us or how we feel about it.
If it “feels” painful, difficult or uncomfortable, we call it a “bad thing”… But
does God share that same definition?? The scriptures would say again, that He
cares differently. At the end of the book of Job, after all the loss and pain
that he suffered, the most powerful statement Job makes is “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.”
Job thought he knew God, but it wasn’t until he went through all that pain and
suffering that he actually “SAW” God! Isn’t that true for all of us? Don’t we
“see” God in new and amazing ways when we are struggling and in pain more so
than when things are good? So, would God define pain as “bad” if it brought us
closer to Him and had positive eternal
consequences?? What do you think?
Is Suffering
from God or Satan?
For most of my
Christian walk I blamed, rebuked, and accused Satan for many of the
difficulties in my life. Saying that I must be doing something “right” if I
feel “attacked” by Satan. But, is that actually true? The more I spend time in
the word, the more I am seeing something very different!
God sent Jesus to suffer and die for us; “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but
yours be done.” Luke 22:42. Through His suffering, death and
resurrection, He became the Savior of the world! God’s Eternal perspective.
Just like us, Peter had to go
through a pruning and refining process in order to be who he needed to be for the
Kingdom; “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as
wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when
you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Luke
22:31-32. Being sifted like wheat sounds
like a difficult and painful process. So… Who did Satan ask?? And he was
apparently given permission
because Jesus prayed that his faith wouldn’t fail. God’s Eternal perspective.
And Satan had to get
permission to come after Job; “The LORD said to Satan,
"Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From
roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Then the LORD
said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one
on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns
evil. Job 1:10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and
everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks
and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike
everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." The LORD
said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands,
but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from
the presence of the LORD." Job 1:7-12. Satan couldn’t touch
Job until God gave him permission to do all those things, to Job and his
family… For what purpose?? So that Job could “see” God instead of just having
“heard” of him. Eternal perspective.
“Jesus
turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block
to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Matthew 16:23-26. Peter was determined that NOTHING BAD would
happen to Jesus and that he would protect Jesus with his life! But Jesus’
answer to Peter is astounding and very revealing; “You do not have in
mind the things of God, but the things of men”! Man would save
and protect his son and friend, God would send His Son to die for the world…
Eternal perspective.
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are
not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the
ground apart from the will of your Father.” Matthew 10:28-29. It is the “Fathers will” that allows or denies
even a sparrows fall.
When I was blaming
and rebuking Satan for everything I realized that my focus and attention was
more on Satan than on my Father and my Lord! I believe this ruse is exactly
want Satan wants us to believe so that we are distracted and derailed from
where our TRUE focus should be!!
Behind the
scenes
There is another
aspect of things that I know so little about but I know that it is hugely
important. Behind the “visual curtain” there are all sorts of “spiritual”
things that are going on. The Bible speaks of God’s angels at war with Satan
and his demons. Jesus and His disciples rebuke and cast out demons from many
people so I know they are alive and well and very active. One of my favorite
scriptures depicting this is in 2 Kings 6:15-17 “When the servant of
the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses
and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we
do?" the servant asked. Don't be afraid, the prophet answered.
"Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then
the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of
horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” God’s army
is SO much bigger and better than mans or Satan’s.
So, can Satan do
things to us to harm us? As I mentioned earlier, our “free will” is something
that God won’t control. I do believe that our sinful choices can open doors for
the enemy to come in and wreak havoc in our lives because we have given them
permission to. When we go against God’s will and choose our own ways then we
are responsible for the pain and suffering in our lives. Is this scenario beyond
God’s ability to help or heal? Absolutely NOT. When we turn to Him for help and
salvation, He is ALWAYS there and will turn what the enemy meant for harm into
something GOOD for His glory!
Wrapping up
Ok, so with all that said I
would like to reiterate that I still don’t “get” everything that God does and
“why”. And I know that there is WAY more that I DON’T know about God and why He
does or does not do things. But, I am pretty confident that God will do whatever He needs to do to accomplish HIS
purposes. I have learned that to say “God wouldn’t…” is a very dangerous statement… God can, and He will do whatever HE needs to do for
HIS eternal plan. “I make known the end from the
beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will
stand, and I will do all that I please.” Isaiah 46:10
So, back to my
original question “Who is responsible for all the “bad” and/or “painful”
things that happen to us and to the innocent? Is it God, sin and the fallen
state of humanity, or Satan?? I think we can safely say “all of the above” to
one degree or another. But, I can’t help but believe that ultimately it is still
GOD who oversees, orchestrates, pulls it all together and weaves it ALL into
His amazing and perfect plan. Even
though I don’t get everything, I have this unshakable certainty and trust in an
amazing, LOVING and POWERFUL God!
Trusting in God and believing in Him, is much
easier when we remember these important attributes of His character. That He is
the creator of EVERYTHING, He
is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and the Great I AM!! That He is LOVE and He is GOOD, and everything He says and does is GOOD no matter how it feels to us. And as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts.
And that He is “Eternally” focused
and not temporally focused…
Can we TRUST This
God with our very lives, temporal and eternal, no matter how it feels or what things look like? And can we now
say that God is Sovereign and oversees
all things, the good, the bad and the ugly and will work ALL THINGS for the
good of those who love Him??
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans
8:28
The other day when I was listening to the gospels
again I heard Jesus say "Have faith in God,.." (Mark 11:22), and I thought, "Hmmm...
Where IS my faith and what is it IN?" You know how you can hear and say things
for years and not REALLY get it? I think this is one of those times for me. I realized
that what I really needed to do is re-evaluate my faith in GOD! That seems to be
a very important factor here. Isn't that what Jesus said? Have faith in God?
When I thought about having faith and what I tend to have faith IN I realized
that I tended to put my faith in MY ability to do things! Looking at the mountain
and trying really hard to muster up the faith and believe that it would move
(full body flexing and grunting visual here). I had faith in “my efforts"
to do things just right and believing that "I" could do it... (whatever
"It" was). My faith was in making the thing happen, saying the right
words, and believing that God would give ME the ability to do it. Once again,
my flesh has taken over and tried to make this about "ME". And yet
again, another area that I have taken my eyes off of God and onto myself and I
didn't even realize it!!
“But I have prayed for
you, Simon, that your faith [in God]
may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Luke
22:32. Again, this seems to have a much deeper meaning to me and impact for Peter.
Again, I certainly
haven’t figured this all out, and I may be on the caboose of this revelation,
but I do feel like I am getting closer to that final frontier than I was before. What is my faith IN?
Is it in what “I can do”, or do I have faith in my “faith”, or even better yet, is my faith in a promise of God, or is my faith in
GOD Himself?
