|
|
|
The Word's Eye View is a newspaper column written by Blame the Right God Most often in today’s world God receives the blame for major disasters but very little, if any, credit for the blessings of life. So many seem to want a God who will treat them with no choice as far as benefits, but they desire to maintain a free will in relation to sin or self will. The tsunami of December 26, 2004 displaced millions of people and 200,000 perished. “I don’t understand how a God of love could allow such a thing to happen’ is the common question that follows such an event. Not one of the countries that were primarily affected claim Christians as a significant percentage of their population. Why is it that the gods those nations worship are never called into question? It is always the God of the Bible that ultimately is held responsible. Is that not in and of itself an acknowledgement of His sovereignty? If it isn’t, shouldn’t we at least have the intellectual honesty to blame the god of the persons who suffered? In Deuteronomy 32:16-21 God is chastising Israel for provoking Him to jealousy by sacrificing to devils and strange gods. He concludes the warning with “I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be…” The message is obvious…if you want to worship these other gods, help yourself; I (God) will stand aside and see how kind they are to you. Interestingly, Satan is called “the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4), and in the estimation of Jesus he was a murderer and a liar from the beginning. (John 8:44) There seems to be two competitive forces in the world…one wants to be merciful, but it’s up to us to choose our God and eventual destiny. The second question that is frequently generated in the wake of natural disasters is “how can I know there is a God at all?” Again, allow some backdoor logic! If the God of the Bible is not authentic, how do we explain the fact that the greatest generosity toward the victims always comes from people who live in a land of Scriptural roots? America is the world’s first responder when catastrophes occur, even to countries which are declared enemies. There is no clear explanation for these ideas of generosity to be imbedded in our national psyche short of the words of Jesus: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44) The Word of God has long stood as the primary standard for morality and human behavior in this land. When a people depart from its influence and declare “…we will not have this man (Christ) to reign over us” (Luke 19:14), there is a progression of national consequences that follow. They are:
Are any of these ringing any bells? The Bible is a two-edged sword. (Hebrews 4:12) You will either gain comfort, hope and purpose from it, or it will consistently rub the fur on the cat the wrong way.
|