A Note To Think About

A Note to Think About

9/8/16

A question that is a common thorn in our minds is that of the things that God allows to happen in our lives.  Even though there is a logical explanation in the Bible of why God allows things to occur that is not going to be the topic of this article but that subject will be very soon.  It is easy for us to admit the blessings of God but on the other hand, it is difficult for us to accept the judgments of God.  This is a hard area for us to comprehend sometimes especially when the innocent are involved.  But could God not perform these acts in such a manner as to include the innocent as well?  That is an answer that each one of us must make but in order to make a fair assessment of this topic, one must remember that God cannot change His ways, which means only mankind has the capability of accomplishing this feat.

The words “count your blessings name them one by one” should ring a bell for many of those who have attended church from the mid 20^th century onwards.  This line is part of a popular hymn that most denominations sing or has used in various types of church services during this time period.  It is a great song that reminds us that God will pour out His blessings upon His people when times go wrong or when people are reaping overall good days of life.  This type of living is easily passed down to each other as things are looking up and there are not many cares that we are encountering that deem too much of our worry.  There is nothing wrong with this state of mind when it comes to God’s blessings, for it is this time that God expects us to rejoice and to give thanksgiving for the things that He has given to us.  But what if God bestows upon us tears and rain?  Are these really blessings and do they come from a just God?  The answer to those questions is a resounding yes!

One cannot look around this country and in other western societal countries and not see the blessings that God has poured out on His people.  Even in times of distress and heartache western society has been blessed beyond belief and for the majority of the time we have failed miserably to adequately thank God for sparing our way of life.  While we bask in our wealth and hob knobbing practices we continue our defiance of thanksgiving to the one who has given these things to us, and we have forgotten why God has blessed us with all of these things in our lives.  This is also evident in our church buildings as well in that many people are just sitting in the pews and not sharing the gospel of Christ to the dying world, which sends a neon beacon into the air stating that we are an ungrateful Church.  This setting portrays an attitude of self-indulgence acquired through the blessings of God instead of a Church who is directly fulfilling the mission of Christ through these blessings.

 At some point when God sees fit to stop the outflow of blessings and begins to change our living statuses will we continue to be content to sit in our pews at that time and begin and then continue to ask why God is allowing these horrific things to occur?  For if we were truly doing the work of God out into the dying world, we would realize that God allows both sides of the street to exist so why wouldn’t He allow other types of blessings to occur to everyone as well?  God cannot just be a sugar daddy to only a certain portion of His people and ignore the rest, He has to be fair in all points of life in order to be just, even when it is hard for us to understand why bad things come our way.  It is our responsibility not only to seek out the needy but also bless the Church around the world with the blessings that God has given.  When this nation brings in more missionaries into its borders that it is sending out, this is the example of which God wants us to see, the Church’s priorities have been perverted and no longer serve God but mankind alone.

There are times in our lives that are tougher than others.  There are millions of people in this country alone and each one of us can have a specific problem that we have to deal with but this time is considered to be minor in comparison.  I have had aches and pains in my joints for years.  I remember when I was younger and the doctors would look at my x-rays most of them told me that I would experience some problems with arthritis when I got older because of my body type and how I continually pushed myself when I was young.  Now, their words are floating through my head as my ankles and hands are stiff and achy when storms pass through the area.  Yet I can cope with this short-lived pain for now and I continue on my journey without any major problems.

My example is a minor one that inconveniences me for a while yet I do not consider it to be a debilitating or life-threatening condition, and I believe that it would be safe to say that most of us have something similar affecting our lives each day as well.  While these situations are small, for the most part, we can accept these conditions with relative normalcy and without any huge complaints being directed towards God.  I guess it is a normal condition to have minor issues since almost every day we hear of such cases coming from many people’s mouths.  But as we feed these people and pay some of their bills, are we witnessing to them and sharing the gospel of Christ to them while we are completing these acts of kindness?  God does not care for His Church to feed a person a meal yet have them walk out and die in their sins and spend eternity apart from Him.  This seems like a trivial part in our hearts but it is an eternity for God; yes, it is that important.  There are countless secular soup kitchens around this country, what about a Christian soup kitchen stands out and portrays itself different from a secular one? 

Death is a part of life and while none of us like this fact all of us understand this process.  Every single person in the world has experienced some kind of death in their family whether it is from natural causes or due to tragic circumstances.  Death is never easy to deal with but one does get through the process and eventually will return to their normal ways of living after the normal grieving time has passed.  The deaths of loved ones always hurt and it forces us to put our lives into perspective when the present factors have been unfolded.  Many people do have struggle with God in this process other than sometimes asking God “why” this event occurred now and not in a future setting. 

Death becomes harder to accept when a child is involved.  The pains that the parents and local community deal with after such an event happens usually leave many with hard questions of what happened and why did this have to happen to a child.  Accidents do happen in life but even though this is a true fact, it does not help in any case when a young child or young person leaves this world before the parents do.  We do not hear many stories dealing with such tragedies but I hate to say that these types of stories are becoming more frequent in our society.  Many other societies already deal with such high numbers of this type of death but it does not matter where a parent is that when and if one of their children dies it sets an entirely new course for their lives, one that will be changed forever.  In every case of death the question of “why, God?” can be asked about the person who is no longer with us but it is our realization about our lives that should trigger the truth about what has occurred and that all are truly subject to such a physical finality.

In every example given plus numerous others, it easy through these experiences that we begin to question God and why He allows these gross errors to occur.  It is difficult for our minds to comprehend this type of activity as being normal or something that is acceptable in God’s eyes.  Hurricanes, large earthquakes, wars and other man-made disasters which destroy hundreds or thousands of lives at one time can fit into this category as well.  It is in these times that some run to God for protection and guidance yet at the same time others curse Him for bringing forth this type of destruction and devastation.  This part of God’s existence that we struggle to comprehend and to accept in our lives, but we must keep this part of God in perspective because it is He who allows these conditions to present themselves in our world.  To top conditions off and what gets many people is that after the act is completed, it seems like God is silent for a while before He begins the healing process which further deepens the anger in some.  It is through these processes that we must dig deep to understand the viability of God and why He allows things to occur, and if we are totally honest with ourselves the issues we face are most certainly the result of our actions.

We can all agree that disasters of this magnitude can bring many hardships to the world and when these scenes occur we humans find it difficult to recover anytime soon.  Not only do we struggle with our day-to-day needs but our faith begins to get knocked around so much that we begin to doubt that God is with us.  It is easy for Christians to say that God is beginning to deal with the attitudes of man when these disasters occur and it is just as easily rebutted by those who do not believe in God that these situations were just a part of Mother Nature.  For us to ignore the measure of God’s presence limits us in our capability to restore our physical means plus it also limits us in our personal spiritual healing and future growth as well.  When we understand that God loves us and that He allows things to occur for a reason and that is the time that we humans should begin the quest for finding out what is going on so that we may correct matters as soon as possible, or the answers should present themselves in this manner.

Everything that occurs in this world God has ordained and allowed to occur and complete its value.  It does not matter if those things are blessings or if they appear as complete disasters to mankind.  It is obvious that each of us will respond to these conditions individually with some responses being similar.  But do we actually accept all of these issues as coming from a just God?  And do we really believe in the answer that we are quick to hand out?  In order for us to say yes to that question, we must first acknowledge that God is the ultimate and supreme creator of everything that we know and that we do not know.  Then we must accept the fact that He can do anything or allow anything to occur to His creation, even if we do not understand completely His motives for doing so.  We also must believe that there is a specific reason for the good things and the bad things that we experience and the lessons that we need to take into consideration after each situation has been completed.

It is the condition of our heart and the wisdom through God’s Word that should direct us for these questions and answers before we begin to ask God why He allows things to happen to us.  Why does God bless us when our country hates His name?  Why does God allow wars and natural disasters to proceed to protract their devastation upon millions of people?  Both of these questions are legitimate when you put yourself in the correct position as God sees you and we should be ready to understand both sides of the answer column when the questions are presented.  It is at this point when we are watching the scenery after the storm that we must be willing to accept God’s true answers and not what we want to hear, for God does not create any selfish desire for a destructive process it is always to wake His children up and to grab their attention before a larger disaster comes their way.  Study the Old Testament and it will not take a person long to figure this truth out.  Then include the responses of the people to whom those disasters occurred and then the further truth will be given to the studier.

One last example for you to think about and it goes like this.  Many of you have heard that Israel has begun attacking Syria over their weapons program with Iran.  Israel sees this position that Syria has taken as a potential threat to their security and rightly so.  So, Israel has chosen to defend itself against this aggression with strategic strikes into Syria.  This action by Israel has sparked outrage within the Arab world and the Arab nations are calling for Jewish heads to roll.  Some type of escalation in the Middle East will be seen in the near future, you can guarantee this but here is what God wants to show us. 

I saw a picture of Jerusalem that was taken a few days ago as this new situation was transpiring.  The picture had a few storm clouds hanging over parts of the city but a large rainbow stretched out over part of the city at the same time.  I was struck by this picture since it says so much about God’s love for His people.  Even though tough times may lie ahead or going through at the moment, God has promised to be with us no matter what the outcome is.  It does not matter if the disaster is personal or on a large scale, a natural disaster or a world war started by humans God will be there.  And when the results of these travesties surface, which include the innocent with the guilty, God will still be in control and with us even if it looks like the entire world is crumbling before our eyes. He is in control and that there is a rainbow that we can look up to in the sky will remind us of this promise.  With this rainbow, we must keep something in mind and take to heart from the example God gives here and it plays into the conditions for our societies today.  In Genesis 9:11 God promise not to destroy the earth again with water, with the word “earth” being the key.  God never states anything about destroying parts of a nation or nations themselves through water a result that falls in our category of thinking for this article.

In this manner, God is a just and honest God and He shall never waiver from this fact.  Good things and bad things will always occur in our lives and we must accept these truths as fact.  The early Christians suffered tremendously for several decades so why wouldn’t we – today - be included in some of the same kind of suffering as well?  Humanity suffered through many plagues due to natural causes, why wouldn’t we have some of the same conditions in our world today?  When you take a look at the meteorological history of some portions of the world, one will notice that those areas have never experienced droughts or famines yet other parts close by are burning up, why wouldn’t some of our world today be in the same category?  Every situation that our minds can dream about has the possibility of occurring, so I guess all aspects of those thoughts could be our rewards as well.  God is a just God and He is an honest God in all ways, He is a complete God and through this truth, all issues are possible for mankind’s eyes to witness.

I cannot reiterate this fact enough for it is the words that He is saying to us each second of our lives: God is a just God in all of His ways and He cannot change His ways, only we have the ability to conform back into line with His Covenant standards or not.  I may not understand the majority of His ways but even so, I will trust in Him that He knows what He is doing.  I may even question His motives and reasoning for allowing certain things to occur, and that is ok for He will do His best for me to understand these things at some point in time.  I do count my blessings each day as I also go through the trials and heartaches each day as well.  But I count it all joy since I have the opportunity to just be alive and to experience the life that God has allowed me to have.  I know I have a purpose for each breath I take and every day that I wake up is another testimony and testament to the love that God has for me and the mission I must fulfill for His Kingdom.

DLB