Why?

I was awake this morning at three a.m. thinking about this one word question. I haven’t been able to get any work done for thinking about Haiti. Up until now I have been thinking about the people and what they are going through. For Mary and me it is very personal. As we talked this morning in the dark hours of the day, she was talking about people we have met in Haiti who were victims of the earthquake. There are some questions for which we do not have answers, but they flash like a neon sign in our minds until we are compelled to respond. The atheist has the easy answer, just a matter of cause and effect, nature doing its thing, being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I suppose he would add, that at times we are victims of our own inventions. But for us who believe there is a God, and the evidence is strong if you look for it, we don’t have such simple answers. What I am about to say are my own thoughts, I don’t speak for anyone else but I have spent a lifetime with the neon sign flashing “WHY?” in my head and heart. For me it began with a simple truth and that is, Christianity is a relationship not a religion. My answer also stands on the premise that God is Holy and good, full of grace and mercy. Our view is not the same as His, He has an eternal perspective on life and we have a temporal one. Some people see God as a manipulator of humanity. A button pushing, lever pulling God who controls every aspect of our existence. I do not see it that way.
Now back to the relationship idea. I have three wonderful children and a good relationship with them, but I do not try to control their lives. I am here for them, I will help them when they ask, I will give them advice when they ask, but I did not raise them to be robots. I am sure they are at times victims of their own decisions and I hope they don’t blame me. I am most proud of them when they live by the principle of the Word of God by their own choice. Whatever you may think of God, it is obvious that He does not force people to serve Him or live by the principles of the Christian faith. Much of the world demonstrates this every day. The inconsistency is that when trouble comes these same people want to blame God. They reject the lever pulling God when it comes to their personal lives but embrace Him when tragedy strikes. They want God to be a dictator until He infringes on their personal freedom. It is a kind of “leave me alone attitude, I will call you when I need you.” But when trouble comes they are the first to ask, “where was God and why didn’t He do something?” Well, I have learned that you can’t have it both ways. You can’t have freedom and then blame God for not being there when you have left Him out of your life. Now for a couple of important points. Good people get hurt because our lives are intertwined. We drive on the same roads. We share the same space and we live in a fallen world. The Earth today is not what God intended and it is because of the Free Will issue. God is not looking for robots. Robots cannot love by choice, they cannot serve by choice, but we can and that is the best kind of love. I choose to love God. Rom. 8:21 “because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” This verse says, we live in a world bent out of shape but God will have the final say, and bring it back to what He intended. Until this happens, it will continue to “rain on the just and the unjust.” Now before you jump on my case for what I am about to say, think about it. Back to the tragedy of Haiti, there are two views; the physical view which is devastating, a major disaster by anyone’s standard, and the spiritual view. Simply put, the way man sees it and the way God sees it. We know what He thinks, 2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Joh 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God the important thing is “everlasting life,” for us it is so often the extension of this life. The important issue is where we go when we leave here. That is what Jesus Christ is all about. He is “The Door” “The Way,” “The Truth” and “The Life.” He took the penalty for sin upon Himself. He paid for our ticket to Heaven, He simply ask us to repent, “turn,” and ask for forgiveness. I think of the two crooks who hung on the crosses beside Jesus. One of them asked to be remembered and Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Here is the point, for this man his tragedy turned into the way home. When we dare attempt to see things from an eternal perspective it gives us hope. I believe thousands of Haitians have gone home, buried in the rubble all they could do is ask, “remember me,” and a loving, gracious God has welcomed them home. My faith says they would not come back if they could. What God does not cause, He uses. For the thousands buried in the darkness of crumbled concrete, He was there with open arms. In the end He will have the final say. Like children playing in the back yard, doing our own thing for the moment, we dare not assume that we are not responsible and that God will not have the last word. I have a feeling that “Why” is not about God but about us. jfs