Date: December 2007 Series: Title: "If God is in control, then why . . . . . ?"

       Have you ever wondered this - "If God is in control, then why are there so many things going on that don’t seem to be what the good and all-powerful God would want to happen?"  Yeh, you are right - I think about it a lot!

       Two things come to mind right away.  First, the Bible tells us that God is all-powerful and His purposes cannot be thwarted (2Chronicles 20:6) and that God is good (1Chronicles 16:34).  I believe that and my reason tells me that is how God should be.

       But, second, my reason starts to generate questions: why did God let the Serpent deceive His kids (Genesis 3)?  Why did God allow pre-flood civilization to get so bad over so long a time before He responded and when He did it was "massive" (Genesis 6)?  Why did God promise lots of descendants and then put Abraham and Sarah through years of childlessness, allow the Hagar problem to develop, then put Abraham through the "offer up your son" agony (Genesis 22)?  Why did God make promises to patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) when He knew how unfaithful their descendants (the nation of Israel) would be?  Why did God allow evil to build up to such a point in Judah that the prophet Habakkuk was agonizing over it (Habakkuk 1:2-4)?  Why do some unbelievers get long years of old age, while mothers of small children die of cancer and leave a young father to struggle with grief and single parenting?  Why does God allow false religious movements like Islam and Mormonism to flourish?  Why does God allow the forces of secularism to use the courts to silence His Word and People in America?  And, if we are told to "not withhold good from others when it is in our power to do something" (Proverbs 3:27), then why does God allow evil to develop so far without intervening and even "hide" while it is going on (Psalm 10:1; Isaiah 45:15)?

       Such questions have led numerous "skeptics" to abandon their faith.  So how do I resolve these things so that my faith survives?   First, the Bible also tells me that God's ways are higher than mine (Isaiah 55:8-9) - which should be true of God compared with His creatures.  Thus, I am not surprised that God's methods don't always make sense to me.  Kids don’t always understand why parents act as they do, but when they become parents themselves the landscape looks a lot different to them.  Kids think that parents should do certain things on a different timescale, but sometimes parents let kids live with some of the results of their foolishness for the "lesson-value" that tough situations offer.  That might give us an inkling into why God does not rush in and "fix" everything when we think He should.

       Why does God allow nasty sinners to hurt victims?  That is a tough one, but it probably has something to do with the unavoidable ramifications of "free will."  We claim that we wish God would ride rough-shod over everything and keep bad things from happening out of one side of our mouths, while constantly screaming about "our rights" and demanding "more freedom" out of the other side!  As unpleasant as it is, victims of other people's sin are an unpleasant necessity if sin is ever going to be allowed to be shown for what it really is - evil!  For the person who chooses "sin/evil" as a lifestyle, how would they ever become "guilty" if not allowed to act on their choices?  Is our choice to "do good" and pursue holiness going to have any true value if it was our only option?  That is similar to the humorous situation that used to prevail in the Soviet Union, where elections were held, but there was only one candidate!  Where good/evil are not real choices with real results, there is no “freedom/choice.”  I doubt that we would like that type of universe either - of course, in such a world, we would not even be thinking about issues of "choice/freedom."

       As for all of the really bad stuff that happens and doesn’t seem to make sense - well, it doesn’t make sense and it is not how God wanted human life to be.  But, way back there in time, rebellion began and creatures decided to join the rebellion rather than enjoy the garden with its benevolent boundaries (Genesis 3).  We are still living with those results and making choices as to where we will spend eternity - with God or with the leader of the rebellion.  In God’s universe, we don’t get to deal the cards, but we do have some say in how we play the hand we are dealt.

       Some of our problems are clearly our own doing - our failure to do what we know is right.  If you really disagree with denominational teaching, false cults, and false religions and want the world evangelized for Christ, what are you doing to promote Biblical Christianity?  The Church was supposed to be “a ministering body” rather than "a body with a minister"!  Since real Christianity is spread by means of an objective message (Romans 10:14-17; 1Corinthians 1:21), more teachers and fewer perpetual spectators would change this.  Many sins have their own earthly penalties built-in - some of our problems are the predictable cause-effect results of our foolishness and/or carelessness.  Sin still pays wages and some checks arrive before final payday!

       God could change things - and He will.  But for now, His power is perfected in weakness (2Corinthians 12:9) - first through human patriarchs, then a nation of rebellious descendants, then by sending His promised Messianic Son into enemy territory as a baby, and now through all-too-human disciples of Jesus.  But I suspect that God gets a bit of a thrill from working His will this way rather than just imposing His power on everything.  I'm glad that God gave me freedom of choice and action, but even happier that He is good, merciful, and has been patient in withholding judgment on sin as I have stumbled along learning about love and self-control.  Patience may be one of His best gifts to us - after Jesus.  Merry Christmas!