So why does God let all of this stuff happen? Well we
live in a fallen world because of original sin (when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden and corrupted the world). God doesn’t want robots. He wants those who want him. So he gave us a free will. It’s kind of like television; it could
be used for good or evil.
I heard a professional football player make this
statement a couple of years ago. His team mate and close friend had just died tragically and he was understandably upset. He wondered why God would let this tragedy happen. Why didn’t he just stop it? God doesn’t work this way. In this
case, the player who died had been trying to get his life together, and had a relapse. He had gotten drunk and his fiancé had had enough and speeding away in a truck, and he jumped onto the truck to try and stop her after realizing that
he had blown it and tragically fell out of the truck on the highway and was died from his injuries. This had nothing to do with God. This is cause and effect. This is the law of sowing and reaping. By that, I mean a person engaged in high risk behavior and paid the ultimate price. Did God want this to happen? Absolutely not! It broke his heart. But we have choices.
I have observed this over the years. When people accomplish things, they generally take the credit and when things go wrong they usually blame God. God gets blamed for a lot of things that we cause ourselves. He also gets blamed for the things the devil does. And remember we live in a fallen world. The basic thing is this: God came to give you abundant life. The devil comes to take that away from you. Again we live in a fallen world and that is against us, also. We choose abundant life when we place our faith in Jesus Christ and obey his Word. When we don’t or just default to that position we become an open target for
attack.
Let me ask you this question. Do we want to have our cake and eat it too? What do I mean by that? We want to have the freedom to do what we want to do, and then we blame God when we mess it up. What if every time you did something wrong, God slapped you, you wouldn’t like that. You would be walking on egg shells. That would be like being in an abusive relationship. God gives us latitude-it’s called grace, but he wants us to choose wisely. He didn’t make us robots. We are his highest creation. He loves us and wants those who want him. He desperately wants us to choose him. He is a good God, but our faith in him and choices to obey do make the difference. And when we do blow it, we call on him for forgiveness and mercy, and he will give it to us. Thank God for that!
“The thief does not come except to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
(John 10:10)
“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” So the
people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods (Joshua 24:14-16)
"If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land" (Isaiah 1:19)
live in a fallen world because of original sin (when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden and corrupted the world). God doesn’t want robots. He wants those who want him. So he gave us a free will. It’s kind of like television; it could
be used for good or evil.
I heard a professional football player make this
statement a couple of years ago. His team mate and close friend had just died tragically and he was understandably upset. He wondered why God would let this tragedy happen. Why didn’t he just stop it? God doesn’t work this way. In this
case, the player who died had been trying to get his life together, and had a relapse. He had gotten drunk and his fiancé had had enough and speeding away in a truck, and he jumped onto the truck to try and stop her after realizing that
he had blown it and tragically fell out of the truck on the highway and was died from his injuries. This had nothing to do with God. This is cause and effect. This is the law of sowing and reaping. By that, I mean a person engaged in high risk behavior and paid the ultimate price. Did God want this to happen? Absolutely not! It broke his heart. But we have choices.
I have observed this over the years. When people accomplish things, they generally take the credit and when things go wrong they usually blame God. God gets blamed for a lot of things that we cause ourselves. He also gets blamed for the things the devil does. And remember we live in a fallen world. The basic thing is this: God came to give you abundant life. The devil comes to take that away from you. Again we live in a fallen world and that is against us, also. We choose abundant life when we place our faith in Jesus Christ and obey his Word. When we don’t or just default to that position we become an open target for
attack.
Let me ask you this question. Do we want to have our cake and eat it too? What do I mean by that? We want to have the freedom to do what we want to do, and then we blame God when we mess it up. What if every time you did something wrong, God slapped you, you wouldn’t like that. You would be walking on egg shells. That would be like being in an abusive relationship. God gives us latitude-it’s called grace, but he wants us to choose wisely. He didn’t make us robots. We are his highest creation. He loves us and wants those who want him. He desperately wants us to choose him. He is a good God, but our faith in him and choices to obey do make the difference. And when we do blow it, we call on him for forgiveness and mercy, and he will give it to us. Thank God for that!
“The thief does not come except to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
(John 10:10)
“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” So the
people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods (Joshua 24:14-16)
"If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land" (Isaiah 1:19)
RSS Feed