Book 2 of Musings God Knows What He Is Doing
Given that God has all power, when we fret and complain about conditions in the world we are rebelling against God. Doesn't God know what He is doing?
As we all know, there is a lot of evil in the world.
The Bible tells us that the evil comes from a cherub who is called Satan, and from other spiritual dignitaries who at one time rebelled against God
The weapons of our warfare, therefore, are not physical. They are prayer, faith in God's Word, courage, and faithfulness.
As we see the spiritual darkness increasing, the immorality and violence, we are tempted to fret and complain. If we are not careful, we soon are torn down from our high place in Christ while we think of ways to resist or even avenge ourselves on people who do evil things.
When we keep in mind that people are only vehicles for evil spirits, it makes it easier for us to forgive the people and wait until God is ready to execute vengeance on Satan and his helpers.
The big question, of course, is, Why does God permit evil to fill the world? If God knows what is going on, and has the power to prevent it, why doesn't He do something about it? Why does He allow little children to starve to death while wicked adults lie on the beach sipping their wine?
I know that people often wonder about the reality of a loving God, given the sordid, tragic, sometimes horrible conditions that exist in the world.
I think the first thing we need to consider is physical death. When someone is murdered or dies for some other reason, we exclaim, "How terrible!" When a ten-year-old child dies from leukemia, it seems like a tragedy beyond all tragedies.
The truth is, the individual passes into the spirit realm. They may disappear from our sight, but they are very much alive in a place we cannot see as yet. We can be sure that when the ten-year-old child dies, he or she enters a much more pleasant environment than he or she has experienced on the earth. Actually the parents are the ones who suffer, not the child.
When a wicked person dies, that is another matter-particularly if he has had a chance to receive Christ and has rejected Him. He also is alive in the spirit world, but he may be in torment.
There may be much bloodshed in the future, including in America. We need to not panic when we read of many people dying at the hands of terrorists. Those who have lived righteous lives are with God. The wicked will be placed appropriately in terms of their personality and behavior.
In any case, the dead are no worse off than the living and, in many instances, are in far more joyous circumstances.
We Americans need to be prepared for the future in terms of people dying, and it may help us to know they have not gone anywhere, they just have become invisible to us.
Why does God permit Satan, his, angels and his demons, to run amuck in the earth? Why is our world so often a place of intense suffering? Why do the righteous suffer while the wicked are exalted? Why is there so much injustice and perversity?
In any endeavor, it often is true that hardship is required before a desired end is achieved. For instance, a person with a serious disease or disability may be required to endure painful medical treatment or strenuous therapy if health and mobility are to be gained.
An individual starting a small business may have to make many sacrifices before achieving stability and turning a profit.
There are instances in life where we have to accept all kinds of problems in order to reach our objective. To gain Christ we must share His sufferings. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him each day. Isn't this so?
The important consideration is, is there some desirable goal that is making our pain worthwhile? If there is, then we cling to our vision until we arrive at our objective. If there is no desirable goal in front of us, then our suffering is meaningless to us-an unnecessary harassment.
God has a goal. It is an extremely desirable goal. It is to build a kingdom that will govern His creation forever. The new Jerusalem is the headquarters of the Kingdom of God. The Throne of God is in the holy city.
When God makes everything new, including the sky and the earth, it will be governed by the saints who compose the new Jerusalem. Then Satan, his angels, and his demons, will be confined. There will be no wicked people in the new world of righteousness. As a result, there will be no more pain, no more death. All will be righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
How will God be able to develop such a worldwide paradise? He can't just come to the earth and tell people what to do. He did come to earth two thousand years ago, and wicked people killed Him.
We must keep in mind that God is infinitely wiser than we are. But we know He is good. He is righteous. He is faithful.
In the beginning, God created two people. They were naked. It is a shame to be naked, according to the Scriptures. Why did God leave His first two people in a shameful condition?
Why did God place a forbidden tree in the middle of the garden, the tree of His eternal moral law?
Why did God then leave Adam and Eve alone so they would have an opportunity to learn of their nakedness and thus be cut off from fellowship with God?
Did God know what would happen? Did God care? Did God know that He was setting in motion thousands of years of agony?
Yes, He did. The Lamb was slain from the creation of the world.
In order for God to bring into being a kingdom, a holy city that would govern all the works of His hands, He had to create people who would become a counterpart of His Son. These people would have to be in the moral image of Christ, the outward image of Christ, and be living in untroubled rest in the Center of God's Person and will, along with the Lord Jesus Christ.
To be in the image of Christ, these people must learn to love righteousness and hate iniquity. They must be warlike, able to overcome all enemies arrayed against them.
Those who overcome will be God's sons and will inherit all that God has made new in Christ.
These sons of God must have a strong immune system that will always prevail against sin. In order for that immune system to be created, the sons had to be infected with sin. Then God furnished the Antibody, the body and blood of Christ. Whoever receives that Antibody has within him that which will provide an immunity against sin.
Innocent people cannot serve as a counterpart of the Lion of Judah. Innocent people are like human beings with no immune system. They are healthy until they are exposed to the virulence of sin.
Now you can understand why Adam and Eve were left in a naked condition and exposed to temptation. Now you can understand why God permits evil to flourish in the world. It is the only manner by which God can create people capable of bringing and maintaining Paradise.
Innocent people always will lose Paradise. Paradise can be enjoyed by all righteous people, but it must be brought into the earth and maintained by holy people who through Christ have overcome Satan and his helpers.
All of this being true, we can see that we are not being wise when we fret about the evil in the world. God knows exactly what He is doing.
We are in a world that is spiritually dark. This is why Jesus cautioned us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one." If we will pray each day for God to deliver us from the temptations of Satan, we will avoid a great deal of trouble; but not all trouble, however, because we must be chastened if we are to learn righteousness.
Do not fret over the injustice in the world. Fretting will tear you down from you high place in God. Satan may not be able to deceive you into sinning against God. But if he can get you to fret, he has harmed you spiritually.
Trust God and look to Him. If you do, your eyes will be opened and you will see that His Glory fills the whole earth.
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Isaiah 46:10)
And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6:3)