2 Jan 09
A friend of mine recently told me she is struggling with her faith, largely because it is hard to see the hand of God in the middle of all this pain and suffering and evil in the world. I can understand why she feels this way, although I tried to encourage her to reconnect with God and to hang in there. This is a tough issue for theologians to tackle, too. How do we reconcile a pure and loving God with the existence or presence of evil in this world? In other words, why does God allow it? And if He could truly stop it, then why doesn't He? And the answer is simple... I don't know. We may never know. But in His Sovereign Plan (or Providence), there does appear to be a place for suffering and Satan does seem to have a little wiggle room to do his evil work. What is do know is this: If God did not even spare his own son, Jesus, from pain and suffering, then it is naive and arrogant to believe that He will somehow spare me from it.
I believe in the truths of Scripture that tell me three things: (1) God is love, (2) There is a thief [Satan] who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and (3) God can use all things for His glory and my/our benefit, even pain and suffering. These three things help me get through some of my own faith battles. But I also know that when I am discouraged, Satan initiated it and he's the one who hopes to benefit from it. In other words, Satan wants me out of the game because I'm playing ball on God's team, not his. Therefore, when I'm under spiritual attack (see Ephesians 6:10-18), then I must be doing something right. The Devil will leave you alone if you're of no threat to him. So maybe we need to look at discouragement as a blessing, because we know who the discouragement comes from and why.
Interestingly, my devotional today was on Elijah losing his faith and wanting to quit the ministry (1 Kings 19). But the interesting thing is that God questions Elijah (twice) about why he's running away from the battle (and one of the greatest displays of God's power in the entire Bible--see 1 Kings 18:16-40), and then God does not accept Elijah's resignation. In fact, the Lord gives him more work (three more assignments). I don't think I ever noticed that before today. We know God ultimately takes Elijah home in he flaming chariot, but not quite yet. Why? Perhaps it's because God did not want him to end on a down note? Or that He wanted his prophet to know that he was not alone in the ministry, as he believed? Or maybe because there was simply more work to be done? Perhaps it's all three. Do you suppose He does the same for you and me?
Finally, a very tragic incident took place last week over here (not too far from me, in fact) that hit the news back home. I can't discuss it here, and althought I was not there, I was still affected by it. We all were. My assistant is taking my physical security very seriously now, to the point that she even escorted me to the latrine the other night. OK, kind of weird... but necessary. That's her job as my "bodyguard." I appreciate her seriousness and desire to keep me safe. Please continue praying for our safety, and for the safety of all the service men and women over here. We need that prayer coverage!
A friend of mine recently told me she is struggling with her faith, largely because it is hard to see the hand of God in the middle of all this pain and suffering and evil in the world. I can understand why she feels this way, although I tried to encourage her to reconnect with God and to hang in there. This is a tough issue for theologians to tackle, too. How do we reconcile a pure and loving God with the existence or presence of evil in this world? In other words, why does God allow it? And if He could truly stop it, then why doesn't He? And the answer is simple... I don't know. We may never know. But in His Sovereign Plan (or Providence), there does appear to be a place for suffering and Satan does seem to have a little wiggle room to do his evil work. What is do know is this: If God did not even spare his own son, Jesus, from pain and suffering, then it is naive and arrogant to believe that He will somehow spare me from it.
I believe in the truths of Scripture that tell me three things: (1) God is love, (2) There is a thief [Satan] who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and (3) God can use all things for His glory and my/our benefit, even pain and suffering. These three things help me get through some of my own faith battles. But I also know that when I am discouraged, Satan initiated it and he's the one who hopes to benefit from it. In other words, Satan wants me out of the game because I'm playing ball on God's team, not his. Therefore, when I'm under spiritual attack (see Ephesians 6:10-18), then I must be doing something right. The Devil will leave you alone if you're of no threat to him. So maybe we need to look at discouragement as a blessing, because we know who the discouragement comes from and why.
Interestingly, my devotional today was on Elijah losing his faith and wanting to quit the ministry (1 Kings 19). But the interesting thing is that God questions Elijah (twice) about why he's running away from the battle (and one of the greatest displays of God's power in the entire Bible--see 1 Kings 18:16-40), and then God does not accept Elijah's resignation. In fact, the Lord gives him more work (three more assignments). I don't think I ever noticed that before today. We know God ultimately takes Elijah home in he flaming chariot, but not quite yet. Why? Perhaps it's because God did not want him to end on a down note? Or that He wanted his prophet to know that he was not alone in the ministry, as he believed? Or maybe because there was simply more work to be done? Perhaps it's all three. Do you suppose He does the same for you and me?
Finally, a very tragic incident took place last week over here (not too far from me, in fact) that hit the news back home. I can't discuss it here, and althought I was not there, I was still affected by it. We all were. My assistant is taking my physical security very seriously now, to the point that she even escorted me to the latrine the other night. OK, kind of weird... but necessary. That's her job as my "bodyguard." I appreciate her seriousness and desire to keep me safe. Please continue praying for our safety, and for the safety of all the service men and women over here. We need that prayer coverage!
Praying for you...I saw the news.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this. I needed the reminder about now, as I face some discouragement of my own. I'm not hopeless-or giving up. But I am struggling. And I (finally) believe that God has me right where He wants me, and He has my attention. So that's the good news. It's not fun or pretty, but I trust that God knows what He's doing and that it's for my own good.
He definitely has my attention, which is a good thing. Pray for me to keep my focus on Him. The rest of it does not matter.
Happy New Year, friend. Stay safe and focused on God.
Excellent message Darren!!! It's so much easier to say "I trust God" and to really really put our complete faith in Him. But he also reminds us that this place is not our home and we are here for his accord...not ours.
ReplyDeleteThe news this past week was a little more than scary!! The sense of evil sometimes just overwhelms me. I will continue to pray and to pray fervently!
Debbie