Have you asked this question? I know I have many times. If there is supposed to be a "loving God" why do babies die? Why do children commit suicide? Why is there war, sickness and evil?
The answer is both simple and complex. First, let me tell you some of the books that I have gone to to help with this answer. The Bible, of course, gives much of the answer. Two other books I have read recently by Ravi Zacherius and C.L. Lewis. I think Lewis was easier to understand in Mere Christianity. Again, I am greatly paraphrasing here.
Lewis and Zacherius both point to the fact that there is good in the world. We know that there is good in the world because it lies in stark contrast to the evil. How would we know that good was good if there was not something in which to compare? If there is good, where does it come from? The source is God and He places a little of Himself in all of us.
The books go into detail about the ideas of what is good and how we define good. I will let you read for yourself. The idea that we know that good is good because it is not evil like we know that light is light because it is not dark.
This is the easy answer. But then again, it is very complicated as well.
The other answer has to do with if God is good and is love, then we have to understand love. Love is only true if there is a choice. If we were to love God, then we have to decide to love Him. The flip side of that is that we can decide not to love Him.
He loves us so much that He does not want there to be any barriers to our relationship. For this reason, He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our straying from Him.
The biggest thing that I have to remember is that He never promised us an easy life down here. If fact, He promised the opposite. He said that we would be hated, the road long and the education tough. He also promised that the end of the race would be all worth it. We are promised an eternity of joy, peace and love with every tear wiped away.
When I see the girls in pain or when I see that CJ is struggling it is difficult to put this in perspective. I want all pain gone. I want all the tears to stop.
I am writing this more for me than for all of you. This blog has always been self-serving. I do not have all of the answers. I do know that God does. This is my eternal hope.
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