Why?

"When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon,

he said,

'The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.'

'Pardon me, my lord,' Gideon replied,

'but if the LORD is with us,

why has all this happened to us?

Where are all his wonders that our ancestors

told us about when they said,

"Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?"

But now the LORD has abandoned us

and given us into the hand of Midian.'"

Judges 6:12-13

I hear it all the time, and you probably do too.  In fact, maybe you've wondered this as well.   "If God is such a good God, why did He let such evil happen?"  It's a fair question.  Gideon had similar doubts about the benefit of God's presence.  He wanted to know what good it does for God to be with them if oppression and suffering still occurred.  Maybe there's more to it than meets the eye.

Wake-Up Call

The harsh sound of the ringing phone assaulted our senses, waking up our entire family of six.  "Sheesh, that wake-up call could raise the dead!" I mumbled, grumpy from the early-morning racket.  

"Well, you did say you didn't want us to sleep through our alarm this morning,"  my husband graciously reminded me as he stepped into the bathroom of our hotel room.

"Yes, but neither did I want to pull a muscle in my neck!"  I grumbled, rubbing the throbbing area just above my pajama collar.

In the same way that it sometimes takes a loud alarm to wake me from a sound sleep, God often resorts to using difficult circumstances to draw me back to Him, waking me up from the kind of stupor that comes from mindlessly wandering away.  When things are going well, I often drift away from Him, thinking I've got it all covered on my own.  As soon as the temperature starts rising, so to speak, I can clearly see how much I need the Lord.

There are many ways I live my life as if I'm in a sound slumber.  I push along, reaching for personal and professional goals that have nothing to do with God's intended purpose for my life (Ephesians 2:10). In my own way of thinking, it seems like a good thing to shoot for, but I foolishly neglected to include God in my decision-making process (Proverbs 14:12, Proverbs 3:5-6).

Other times I go through the motions of accomplishing all the good deeds I think a good Christian should do.  I read my Bible, attend church, meet with other believers, and help others.  Still, my heart feels cold as a stone (Isaiah 29:13).

Many times I'm at risk of forgetting the grace by which I draw each breath.  As I walk further along the road, it's easy to slip onto the destructive path where rules become most important.  I mistakenly think I can please God by upholding a high standard for myself, using my own strength to try to become more patient, loving, kind and gentle with each passing day.  In reality, there is no fruit apart from Jesus (John 15:5, Galatians 5:22-23).

When I drift away from God, He will use whatever means possible to bring me back to Him.

Blinded

He healed the man born blind, but still the Jewish leaders would not believe.  Instead of taking such a miracle as a sign Jesus was of God, they questioned the newly-sighted man, seeking to find the answers that would agree with their own faulty premise.  Clearly, these Pharisees were blind (John 9).

I can be similarly blind, choosing to see only that which supports my own way of thinking.  Instead of opening my mind to the unlimited possibilities of God's sovereign nature, I limit Him. 

Despite all the miracles Moses witnessed God perform, he sometimes suffered from this same kind of spiritual blindness.  When the people he so faithfully led out of Egypt began to complain about their circumstances once again, craving meat to supplement the constant supply of manna, God told Moses He would supply an overabundance of meat for them to eat.  Apparently forgetting to whom He was talking, Moses said, "'Would they have enough if the flocks and herds were slaughtered for them?  Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?' The LORD answered Moses, 'Is the LORD's arm too short?  Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you'"(Numbers 11:22-23).

Sin tends to blind me to the truth.  My flesh trains me to see with earthly eyes so that I only notice that which lines up with my own way of thinking.  If I want to see God at work, then,  I'll need to take on His perspective.

This means I must look at the big picture, keeping in mind that God has a master plan which includes using everything for my good (Romans 8:28).  I might also find it necessary to focus only on the evidence of God's work in my life, surrendering all the potholes, obstacles and burdens to Him for safekeeping (Matthew 11:28, Exodus 33:14).  In order to see the good God is doing, I'll also need to let Him be God, realizing I won't always understand everything that is happening (Isaiah 55:8-9). Instead, I must trust Him as sovereign over all things (Daniel 4:35).  

When I am living in a state of spiritual blindness, I will no longer notice the benefits of God's presence in my life.

Fallen World

Cancer.

Divorce.

Accidents.

Chronic pain.

Sudden death.

People who love God with all of their heart, who have dedicated their lives to following Jesus, often suffer greatly.

Living in a fallen world is not what God intended for us.  When He made all things at the beginning of time, He saw that His creation was good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).  Then, sin entered the world.  When Adam ate the fruit God forbade him to consume, death became a reality for all of mankind.  It is only through Christ that we are delivered from such condemnation (Romans 5:12-21, John 3:17-18).

As a result of the destructive nature of sin, death is all around me.  Weeds threaten to choke out the vegetables I so carefully cultivate.  Everything moves toward a state of chaos and ultimately falls apart and disintegrates over time.  By the age of forty, most people notice their eyesight failing in one way or another.

Relationships also fall victim to the effects of sin.  Married people tend to drift away from each other.  Children automatically rebel and challenge their parent's authority in one way or another.  Friends find themselves at odds as each goes their separate ways.

Followers of Christ are not immune to the consequences of living in a fallen world. 

It's easy to ask, "Why?" when things get difficult, wondering what good God is doing if He doesn't bother to protect me from the bad stuff.  Hard times, suffering and pain, however, are not evidence that God has abandoned me.  Instead, He could be using the very thing that brings me great heartache to draw me back to Him.  It could also be that I'm not noticing all the good because I'm only looking at the bad.  Other times, my difficulty could simply be the result of living in a fallen world.  Whatever the reason for my pain, of one thing I can be sure:  He is with me (Psalm 16:8-11)!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I will replace "why?" with "Who?"  The answer will then always be, "God."

How am I blind to all the good God is bringing into my life?

When do I blame God for something that is as the result of sin?


Originally published on March 17, 2014

The Heart of a Weeping Prophet

"Now, Jeremiah, say this to them:

'Night and day my eyes overflow with tears.

I cannot stop weeping,

for my virgin daughter--my precious people--

has been struck down and lies mortally wounded.

If I go out into the fields,

I see the bodies of people slaughtered by the enemy.

If I walk the city streets,

I see people who have died of starvation.

The prophets and priests continue with their work,

but they don't know what they're doing.'"

Jeremiah 14:17-18 NLT

The people had made their bed and now they must lie in it, so to speak.  They would reap what their seeds of destructive rebellion had produced.  He might have been tempted to gloat or to smugly proclaim to the people of Israel that they were only getting what was coming to them.  But God gave him a different response.

What can I learn by examining the heart of a weeping prophet and thus the heart of God that will help me live in such a dark and twisted world?

Sanctity of Life.  Today's cultural and political climate treats human beings as disposable entities.  Respect of the viewpoint others hold has entirely been lost.  If I disagree with someone, it seems right to demonize them, labeling them as not just wrong but evil and the root of all that is wrong.  I am encouraged to look at those who live in a way I don't agree with as if they are less than human, inferior, and even enemies.  This leads to seeing those who are on the path that leads to destruction as one-dimensional beings, characters without a past or a family who love them, devoid of dreams and passions, regrets and struggles.    It's easy to dismiss someone as invaluable if I never find common ground or acknowledge their humanness.

The message God sent through Jeremiah revealed His attitude toward His image bearers.  Their lives are precious and each person, no matter how rebellious or thick-headed, is equally as valuable.  While God was preparing to lower the boom on His people, it was always with the hope that they would repent and return to Him.  It was never His intention to simply cast them away or cause them to suffer for the sake of making them hurt.  Each life is instead seen as sacred, and He goes to great lengths to try and draw each back to Him, holding back His wrath for longer than any deserve (Luke 15:1-7, Romans 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9).

Jeremiah the weeping prophet reveals the heart of God who values each life as sacred, and it is time that I treasure each human as He does, leaving any revenge to Him alone (Matthew 10:29-31, Romans 12:19).

Humble Lament.  I live in a culture that is uncomfortable with grief and sorrow.  I'm taught to never wallow in my sadness or troubles, but to heal and move on and quickly as possible.  As a result, I fail to fully feel the weight of my sorrow and find the acting of mourning quite difficult and unpleasant.  I tend to take on this same attitude when it comes to sin, as well.  I fail to spend any time feeling the full weight of my sin; how it affects others, the impact it has on my future, and how it hurts God.  Instead, I try not to think too much about it, attempting to unload it like a hot-potato.

Here God demonstrates through His prophet Jeremiah how to humbly lament over the suffering caused by the sins of the people.  Even though they are only experiencing the consequence of their own selfish, hard-headed, stiff-necked choices, the hurt that results is nonetheless painful.  If I turn away from my coldness of heart, this compassion of God will flow through me as well, allowing me to mourn for those who are disobedient to God (Psalm 119:136).  And when I do, God's lovingkindness may draw others to the eternal well where they will find everlasting healing (John 4:14).

Jeremiah the weeping prophet reveals the heart of God who grieves over the sin of mankind, and it is time that I humbly lament as He does.

Sobering Reality.  I don't understand why he would make such a foolish choice that is destroying his marriage and family.  She knows exactly what she's doing, I guess she's just a glutton for punishment.  He's beyond my help, I just can't reach him no matter what I do.  It can be frustrating to stand by and watch people I care about self-destruct.  And it's easy to chalk it all up to stupidity, foolishness or stubbornness.  But there is a truth that better explains their behavior, and it will help me to interact with them in a more godly manner.

Jesus modeled this for me as He hung suffering on the cross, pleading with God to forgive the men who caused him such pain.  "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34 NLT)  Jesus knew something I need to realize:  the lost are blinded by Satan who holds them captive to do his own destructive will and are filled with darkness that confuses their minds and closes them off from the truth (2 Timothy 2:26, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 4:18).  Any who do not know Christ truly don't know any better than to sin.  I was the same way until God rescued me from my ignorance (Ephesians 2:1-3).   Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord who has liberated mankind from the power of sin and Satan (Romans 8:2, Hebrews 2:14). 

Jeremiah the weeping prophet reveals the heart of God who knows the power of the flesh and man's enemy yet offers the overwhelming victory that comes through faith in Christ, and it is time that I accept this sobering reality as He does.

I look around me in disgust, failing to see how people could be so blind as to live in such a destructive way and bring society down with them .  It's easy to take on a cynical attitude and scorn my fellow man.  But God used Jeremiah, the prophet to His people during a time of great rebellion, to reveal His own heart.  When I take note, I realize how much God values every human life, that He grieves over the suffering that comes as a result of their own foolish and stubborn choices and attitudes, and the sobering reality that they truly don't know what they do but are victims of Satan and sin.  As God's perspective sinks in and I turn away from my own prideful perspective, I take on the heart of the weeping prophet and let the heart of God shine through.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to refrain from looking down on the lost, knowing that He values each one enough to have gone to great lengths to win them back (Romans 8:32).

How do I dismiss the lost as beyond all hope because they are so deep in their sin?

How can I take steps to lament, grieving and weeping over the sins of the nation?