Today I had a memory pop up of an article I shared about the shooting that happened in Vegas a few years ago.
Once again I am reminded that this world is full of evil. Bad things happen in our lives whether they are done to us, around us, or because of choices we make ourselves.
You’ve probably asked the question multiple times: why would a good and loving God allow evil in the world??
I want to unpack God’s character right here for a minute.
But first, a little about me.
From the outside, my life looks real good. It would be fair for someone to look at the surface and say it should easy for me to worship God. Nothing bad has ever happened!
i was raised in a Christian home, went to Bible college, married a great guy, have a house, a car, my dream job, etc.
But let me be the first to say, the view you get of me on social media, at work, at church, at school, isn’t the whole picture.
There has been hurt and pain. I wouldn’t dare try to compare my pain to someone else’s, that’s not what we are here to do.
I wanted to simply give context to that fact that I know it’s not easy at times to say God is good. I know it’s a sacrifice to praise Him in the valley of the shadow.
I’ve been there in the pit and mess. It’s not fun, and certainly not easy.
But I learned a hard truth in the last few years that really stuck with me: God isn’t good because that is my opinion of him.
I am not the judge of whether He is good or not. Whether I believe it or not, He is good because He says He is. His character does not waver. He doesn’t changed, whether I am in the valley or on the mountain top, He is always good. He is always God.
The reason we study the Bible is to know God. Understand His character to the depth our minds can grasp. Just like any relationship, we are to study Him.
When I study Him I find that He promises to never leave us or forsake us. I see that He promises to be a refuge. I see that He promises to strengthen and help us. I see that He promises that He will overcome. He promises to to be our Counsel. He promises to give us rest.
But one thing I can’t find is His promise to stop all evil from happening. It’s not there...
I think of Daniel’s three friends: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They told the king to go ahead and throw them into that fire. God would deliver them.
Then there was a but... they said, but if not, we will still serve Him.
But if not, He is still good.
And if you know the story, you know God didn’t deliver them right away.
He made a powerful point. He didn’t stop the bad thing from happening.
He could have! Don’t get that mixed up. He absolutely could have changed the kings’s heart. He could have stopped the whole thing.
But in true fashion, he showed up right on time. Not the time I would have liked if I were them, but the time that was in His divine plan.
Can you imagine being those men?
Standing up in front of the king, making that bold statement, and then getting walked to the furnace. I would have been saying, “ok God, anytime now! What are you doing??”
And I wonder what they were hearing. Do you think maybe God was quiet? Do you think he was silent in the moments leading up to the big reveal?
I wonder if that’s where you’re at in life. God is silent right now and your freaking out cause you can feel that heat. Don’t lose heart.
God might just be waiting for the right moment to show up and show out. Those three men went into the flames.
But when the king looked down in the furnace, there was another in the fire. Walking with them.
And scripture said the king knew it was the Son of God.
Isn’t that amazing?? Somehow, this king that made a law that people could only worship idols and couldn’t worship the true God, knew what He looked like.
Maybe you are walking through the fire because someone needs to see Jesus walking with you.
Maybe this evil thing happened because you needed to draw closer to Him and see just how good He really is.
God doesn’t promise to never let you go through pain and suffering. But He does promise that He will be there with you in it.
He sees you. He sees your heart and it’s not too much for him to handle.
Sometimes He lets us in on the why of our pain and suffering. Sometimes it’s as plain as day.
A lot of times, we will never understand.
We all have questions we want answered. And sometimes Hod answers the way we want Him too.
But if not, He is still good.
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