GOD…WHERE ARE YOU?

Did you ever notice that when life is “good”, people often say, “Thank God”?  That is a respectable gesture – and the recipient of the praise is certainly worthy.  But even that expression isn’t always forth-coming.  In fact it is probably just as common to pass the accolades around during good times and say, “I want to thank my parents; a friend; my team mates; an organization etc. 

Now let’s look at the flip-side of that scenario.  In my experience, I suspect I have heard the opposite expression, “Where is God?” or “Why does God cause these things to happen?” with equal, or perhaps with even greater frequency during times of trials and tribulations. There’s no doubt that during those challenging times we are all looking for answers because we believe our comfort will come through the answers. We want to know the reason; who is responsible; the consequences etc.  And if we don’t get the answer – or in some cases the answer we want – we often assign the blame ourselves to give us the needed sense of relief.  When that happens, too often God becomes the fall guy.

Trials and tribulations are life’s biggest challenge, for believers as well as for non-believers.  Too often people get lost in deep philosophical discussions regarding these matters. And many times they  get totally lost in an intellectual abyss that fails to produce the comforting “answer” desired.  Therefore, since I’m a simple guy, let’s just review some basic truths that often get overlooked in our time of need.

1John 4:8, tells us clearly and succinctly that, “God is love.” This truth is reiterated throughout every page of the Bible. To anyone who opens and reads the book, it is impossible to miss that message.  And as we know from our science class, whatever “is” begets the same.  For instance, have you ever seen – or even heard of – an apple tree producing peaches; a bird producing a butterfly; a dog producing a cat?  Of course not! And why?  Because it’s in their DNA.  Whatever “is” produces more of its own kind.

Therefore, if God is love, then he can only produce what is consistent with love, such as goodness, kindness, compassion, mercy, grace, joy and truth.  Remember, God created us in his own image and declared that “his creation was good in every way.” (Genesis 1:31)  Think about it.  When you love someone, aren’t you good, kind, compassionate, etc. to them?  Could you imagine hurting someone you love?  Well then…consider this.

Life has been described as a drama of “good vs. evil”, and we have been described as unknowing participants in that production.  As my friend “Willie the Shake” stated it, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances.”  So if that’s the case, the author of “good” has been identified.  So who is the author of evil?

To find that answer, all we have to do is review the story of creation.  Adam and Eve were God’s proudest creation.  He put them in the Garden of Eden (which was paradise) and he was their care-giver.  Everything was perfect.  He was their provider; they wanted for nothing.  That was His divine plan.

However, as we know from the story, man came face-to-face with evil in the form of the tempter who deceived them into disobeying God.  SIN entered the world at that moment of disobedience and has been the dilemma of mankind ever since.  So who is the author of evil?  The great deceiver himself, Satan! And make no mistake, evil begets hatred, anger, tragedy, disease, pain, suffering and death.  Is God responsible for any of this???  Absolutely not!

As I am writing this, I think back to what would have been my own receptivity to the content before I became a follower of Jesus Christ. For the first half-century of my life, I considered myself a pretty smart guy.  I was self-sufficient; was considered successful; and in my own mind I had all the answers.  Anything that didn’t fit into my paradigm of thinking was considered rubbish, and I didn’t hesitate to point out my own omniscience.  In other words, this answer I am giving today would have been much too “fairy-tale like” or “too simple” to satisfy my inquisitive mind.  Well, that was before I had a radical encounter with the truth found in John 8:31-32; “And Jesus told his disciples, if you follow my teachings you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” The truth in that statement did set me free, and to my surprise, the truth is pretty simple.  

Satan is described in John 10:10 as,“the thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy”, and again in 1 Peter 5:8, “your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  Make no mistake about it…Satan is real.  If you doubt that, try making a decision to turn from the ways of the world and begin following Jesus’ teachings. You’ll find out immediately how powerful and on task Satan really is.  As long as you’re following the patterns of this world where he has dominion, he has you in his grasp.  But try breaking free, then I know you’ll encounter a lion.  How do I know that?  Because I encountered the lion.

 So you may be asking yourself, “what is my role in this “good vs. evil” drama? Am I just a pawn in the game?” The answer is…we do have a role to play because we have “free will”, but our choices have rewards and consequences.  For instance, let’s take the issue of death.  Our life style and our choices can certainly play a huge part. But again, there are other factors that contribute to the end result that we have no control over.  For instance, our DNA (our predilection for certain illnesses); accidently stepping out in front of a car; perhaps our bodies through the aging process just ware out; or perhaps an acme safe fell from the clouds and struck us, etc. King Solomon had it right in Ecclesiastes 3 when he said, “there is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven: a time to plant a time to harvest; a time to grieve a time to dance; a time to live and a time to die.”

While none of us like to hear this, an integral part of life is trials and tribulations. This is where our growth takes place in our walk with Christ. As James 1:3-4 tells us, “For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.” So when we are facing these trying times – and we will continue to face them right up to our time to exit – we have one of two choices.  We can either shake our fist at God; get angry and blame him; or we can stand on the truth of Jesus’ teaching found in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.”  God’s promise to us is, “he will never leave us or forsake us” (Deuteronomy 31:5) and Jesus’ promise to us is he will comfort us.  Our source of strength, courage and comfort is found right here in these Biblical truths.  So let’s lay the blame for evil where it belongs.  Romans 6:23 makes the contrast crystal clear: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This past weekend, I lost one of my closest friends to the insidious disease of cancer.  It’s also a time when I struggled a bit with the questions we just discussed.  I needed to write this for myself as much as I wanted to share the truth with you.  What I know is that Eddie knows a lot more about God and truth right now than I or anyone else on this side knows.  That’s my greatest comfort at the moment.  Eternal life is a gift from  a loving God!  Amen!

May God Bless Ya…

Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)