What is going on everyone!! This week, a major question has been on my heart that I wanted to delve into. The question is, is God really as good as we say He is? I have been asked this question a few times before. Two main reasons that I have heard why people do not believe in God is: 1.) If God is so good, then why do bad things happen to good people. 2.) How can you say God is sovereign over the world if all of these mass shootings and terrible things are happening? If God is so good and powerful, then why won’t He just stop all of these things from happening? These are amazing questions that have challenged my heart and mind.
To answer the first question, I would say that this world is fallen, and because we have a spiritual battle going on. We have an enemy whose main objective is to rob us of our identity, purpose, and hope. In John 16:33, it says, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” This verse helps to comfort because it gives a reality check that just because we are children of God, it doesn’t exempt us from the negative situations that we can face throughout our lives. I am not a fan of the ‘pie in the sky’ mentality that many Christians have, in that Jesus fixes everything. That is far from the truth. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit in us, which gives us the same power that Jesus had to walk through this life with strength in times of trial (Romans 8:11).
The second question is alike the prior, How can we say that God is sovereign and omnipotent, when mass shootings and wars and death surround us on a daily basis? Couldn’t God just stop it all? The answer to the latter part of the question is absolutely yes. If God wanted to, He could stop it all. In the first part of that question, I would answer to say that in part, the world is fallen, just as I mentioned above. God puts these things (hardships and terrible situations) in our lives because partly God desires unity. When these tragic moments happen, we band together so much more. Should these things happen, absolutely not, let me make that clear. I do think though, with these things happening, it should call us, the church, up to be an example of love and how to live so that these tragic events will decline. John 13:35 gives a beautiful picture of this, saying that the world will know Jesus from us and our love for one another. When we love each other like Christ does, it would make for a more peaceful world.
God truly is good. Through the highs and lows of life, we are certainly not promised a cakewalk of a walk with the Lord. However, deeper than that, we are promised and offered a sure rock to stand on, which is Jesus Christ. So through it all, if we keep our eyes on Christ and mind on His heart for us, then He will in turn put His blessing on top of our daily actions. I don’t know about you, but that encourages my heart in a major way. Every single day, we have an opportunity to dine with the King of Ages; the Maker of the world; the Great Comforter. What is even more amazing, is that we have the honor and privilege to share the Good News of this amazing, reckless love to the world.
The world is dying to know and experience love in its truest form. We are to let the world see this love through our actions and through our daily lives. We should have the mentality that if nobody else will, then I will. My prayer is that we would be people of courage and power, and that we would be the example that the world needs to see. LIVE ON PURPOSE and with love. Let us exude the heart of the Father to whomever we come in contact with, so that people will also be able to see that God is good.
Much Love,
Ryan W.
