YOU MUST HAVE ASKED:
Where is God when the tragedy strikes? Does he know where we are and what is happening to us? Does he see when we are suffering? Does He really care? If so, why not come and help us?
We will never understand the problems; We will never understand the fires, the floods, the earthquakes and all the misfortunes, until we try to unravel what goes on behind all this. There is no way to understand suffering until we understand God (YHWH). We need to understand the divine dilemma.God did not want toys to manipulate and control. He did not create robots. He wanted real people whom he could love and who could receive love. He wanted them to be free to choose. Let's read what is found in Joshua 24:15: "But if it seems evil to you in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose today whom you will serve; and the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord''.This was the freedom of choice that God gave to angels and all created beings. And when God did this, there was a tremendous risk: someone, somewhere, could choose to rebel. And that's exactly what happened. The prophet Isaiah wrote in this regard: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the morning! How you were cast down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! And thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: and I will sit on the mount of the congregation, on the side of the north. I will ascend above the highest clouds, and will be like unto the Most High "(Isaiah 14: 12-14). Lucifer was the son of the dawn! She was the highest angel in heaven, standing by the throne! But he was proud and wanted to take God's place! We learn more about this in the book of the prophet Ezekiel. "You were anointed cherub to protect, and I established you; in the holy mountain of God you were, in the midst of the flaming stones you walked. Thou hast been perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, until iniquity was found in thee.... Thy heart was lifted up because of her beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by thy brightness; I have set thee on the ground before the kings, that I may set thee, that they may look upon thee "(Ezekiel 28: 14,15, 17). What a beautiful angel it must have been! But his heart was exalted because of his beauty. He corrupted his wisdom because of his brightness. There are people who say that God is responsible for evil for having created Lucifer. They claim that God created the devil. But is this really true? Not!
What the Bible tells us is that he was perfect in his ways from the day he was created. Therefore, God created him perfect, but gave him the power and freedom of choice, just as he does with us. In exercising his freedom of choice, Lucifer became the devil. What would God do then? Notice the divine dilemma: God could have prevented rebellion by failing to create people. It could have filled the universe with suns, galaxies and planets, leaving them uninhabited. God, however, preferred to create people because only they can love. After the rebellion of Lucifer that ended the perfect harmony of the Universe, there were still several options left. God could have chosen to force His subjects or he could discard them by throwing them away-as one does with broken toys. If he had acted this way, it would not have been understood. If he had really done this, he would only prove that he did, in fact, want robots, not people who could exercise freedom of choice. God could explain the reasons why he drove the rebellious angels out of heaven; but to explain the nature of sin would be beyond the comprehension of beings who had never witnessed sin. Perhaps He could simply ignore the rebellion; but if he had done so, the result would be chaos. Rebellion could spread and the entire Universe would fall. There was only one way, only one sure way to deal with the rebellion: sin had to be allowed to demonstrate its character. And that would take time, a lot of time. It would involve thousands of years of suffering, wars, catastrophes, hatred and violence. All this caused by the rebel angel. It would take time for human beings, angels, and people from other worlds to see the true face of sin. God could then finally destroy sin without any reproachful voice.Sin will be destroyed someday. The security of the Universe demands this. But God will not make that extreme decision if he does not have the approval of all intelligent beings. However, the rebellion demanded immediate action from God. And the result was a war in heaven: "And there was a battle in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought; But they did not prevail, neither was their place found in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, deceiving the whole world; he was cast into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him "(Revelation 12: 7-9). War in heaven! Michael (another name for Jesus) and His angels fought against the dragon (formerly Lucifer, now Satan) and his angels. And Satan and his followers were cast out of heaven. Lucifer's rebellion had brought a frightening note of discord to the perfect harmony of the sky. The threat of rebellion spreading through the Universe was real. A decision had to be made.
In spite of knowing the risk that would involve our planet, would the plan of creation be maintained? Humans, like all other creatures, would be created with power and freedom of choice. And when the plan of the creation of this world was executed, how did God feel? God was quiet, because he knew exactly what to do if Adam and Eve accepted the rebellion proposed by Satan. God would face not with strength or weapons, but with a cross. The Trinity had agreed that if humans joined the conspiracy, God the Son (the second person of the Trinity) would come to earth to die for man. Even though he had rested on that first Sabbath, He already had Calvary in His heart. "All who dwell on the earth worshiped her, whose names are not written in the book of the life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13: 8). What a statement! She tells us a tremendous story. The Lamb (Jesus) was ready to die from the foundation of the world. This would be the weapon with which God would fight sin: the Lamb slain on a cross. And with that weapon, it would be a winner! And now, what would Satan do? Would you give up your war against God? No of course not.Yet it is impossible to understand the tragedies if we do not pay attention to this ongoing cosmic conflict. Suffering will always be a mystery, until we understand what is happening behind the scenes. We are afflicted by the sad human tendency to credit ourselves with all successes and good things in life, and to blame God for all sorrows and tragedies. The Bible tells us about Job's interesting experience. As we read it, we become participants in the events behind the scenes. We are told that a conversation took place between God and Satan. God expressed full confidence in the loyalty of His servant Job. Satan, in turn, declared that Job served God only by being favored. With this, God gave permission for Satan to do as he pleased, as long as he did not touch Job personally. Despite all that came to him, Job retained complete trust in God. Then Satan said it would not be so if he were allowed to reach the person of Job. God allowed Satan to go on, as long as he spared Job's life. There came the wounds. And how they hurt! And those who called themselves friends sat and looked at him for seven days without saying a word. What torture! And when they opened their mouths, they told Job that he must be a terrible sinner to deserve such a punishment. They thought God was provoking all that. And after all, was God responsible or not? Many people are confused at this point. Job 1:11 and 12 states, "But stretch out your hand, and touch it in all that it has, and see if it does not blaspheme You in Your face! And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thine hand; only do not stretch out your hand against him. And Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. "God gave Satan permission to destroy the goods of Job, but he should not lay a hand on his person. Job still trusted God, and so Satan returned to the presence of the Lord and said, "Stretch out your hand, and touch it in the bones and in the flesh, and see if it does not blaspheme you in your face! And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand; but spare his life. And Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with an evil sore, from the sole of his foot unto the top of his head "(Job 2: 5-7).
It is Satan who delights to leave and bring suffering and disgrace to human beings. It is not God, but the ruthless and cruel enemy of God! As he did in the past, Jesus would like to walk the roads and villages, the hospitals and clinics and not leave any sick, to prevent the cars from colliding, to prevent the planes from falling and for accidents to happen, etc ... But if God really would like to keep all these things from happening, why not? Why do not you introduce yourself and end your suffering? Was He lacking power? Can not God do something for our problems, as well as express His sympathy? Would it be fair to mention a lack of power for the One who spoke and everything was done? No, there is no lack of power. Is it then the absence of love? But if it were lack of love, would God give His son to die in our place? Difficultly! But then what is the problem? If He is powerful enough and loves enough, why let all tragedies happen? God does so because he is wise. If she were going to face rebellion in this way, that would only make her stand out even more. If he did what he pleased, if he did his best to make life smooth for us, we would never understand how sinful is cruel, ruthless, and deadly. However, the greatest of all mysteries is the reason why the innocent should suffer with the guilty. The discussion between God and Satan is not over. And until it ends many bad things will happen to everyone. And if God would protect and heal His children, and respond to all prayers as He would, letting tragedy fall only upon those who reject His grace, Satan would accuse Him of being unjust. What's more, he would claim that we serve God because of His special favors. It is impossible to understand the tears and the suffering unless we understand the conflict that is moving towards the final solution. It is a conflict to be decided between God and Satan, between good and evil. You and I are involved in this. Angels of good and evil are fighting for our loyalty. If our eyes were opened to the invisible world, we would see how these battles are fierce! One day very soon, God will explain the strange mysteries of life. And we will understand and approve of the way He has led things. About Us |
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