A lot of major happenings are going on in different countries of the world. Things seem to be worsening, day after day – wars, riots, famines, starvation, natural disasters and the list goes on.
Sometimes, it makes us wonder, “Is there a God? If He is there, how could He allow such suffering? Isn’t He listening? If He has the power to change things, why isn’t He doing it?
I am reminded of this verse in the Bible.
2 Chronicles 7:14
King James Bible
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
I am sure God has the power to change the state of affairs in one moment, but do we fulfill His criteria, to allow Him to do that?
The God of justice has rules, and doesn't change them to please people.
The way I see it, we're not obeying the rules of our Creator. Instead, we're putting away His Word, altering the Bible to suit us, and creating solutions that do not include Him at all.
Humans are carrying on with wicked and evil ways. We have grown proud and have participated in a revolt against our Creator. We think we are greater than God, if not equal. Do we even respect the 10 Commandments anymore?
The people in power are creating their own rules and solutions, which will only make them stronger, and the poor poorer.
...and here we are, lamenting and wondering, why isn't God doing anything!
We have chosen to disobey God; to do it our own way. Yet, when things go wrong, we put all the blame on God and say He doesn’t care. Is this fair? Some say, God is cruel and heartless to allow human suffering. Is this true?
Try to look at it from this perspective.
If you work for an organization - as an employee - you observe and respect the rules and regulations that have been set. If you violate them, there are consequences – and that can include being fired. Can you say that the organization is heartless to take action against you when you break the rules?
If you continually break the rules, and no action is taken against you – how does that reflect on your boss?
Likewise, we live in a world that has been created by God. The rules have been laid out. If we humans violate the commandments and mess things up, don’t we deserve to pay the price? Isn't discipline needed for correction?
If God magically mends things every time we screw up, without us having to do anything about it – what will it say about Him?
Even then, through His loving-kindness, we have not been destroyed completely as we deserve. Lightning doesn’t strike us dead every time we disobey. We are given chances after chances. Shouldn’t we be grateful?
Humans were created to rule over the earth. Genesis 1:26 says: Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'
Has the human race done an excellent job in RULING the earth? Just look at the financial system weakening, the environment deteriorating and wars with no ending. Who is to blame?
What are God’s ways of ruling the earth? It definitely involves responsibility, integrity, justice, fairness and peace.
Have we utilized the resources given to us with those qualities, or have we ravaged our planet?
We were given a job to do, but we messed up. Yet, we are not humble enough to seek God. We carry on disobeying him. Worse still – we come up with plans that totally disregard Him!
Mankind has brought its own woes upon itself, since the very beginning in the Garden of Eden - through disobedience and sin.
If only humankind understood the rules, and honored the very first job given to us; there will be righteousness, integrity, justice, peace and harmony in all the nations.
But no, we have chosen evil ways – greed, lust and power for personal gain, over the good of mankind.
We, as a few individuals, can pray and beg God to save the world, but structural sins (sins of a community / country / world as a whole) is involved here - which needs cleansing of the entire social system.
When I sin as an individual, I confess my personal sins, I change my ways, and I am forgiven. This is sufficient for my personal salvation.
But when a community, country or the world sins collectively, is my individual prayer and change enough? Are my actions as a single person enough to save the entire world? No!
We look around and ask “WHY?” when disaster strikes here and there. Yet, we fail to realize something - the very fact that the entire human race is not destroyed in the blink of an eye for the mess we have caused, is purely by the LOVE and GRACE of GOD.
Is the God who holds the whole world in His hand, a slave to do our bidding? NO! We should learn to respect and obey Him! Just because He is slow to anger, abounding in love and is giving us time to change, we should never take it for granted.
Sometimes, it makes us wonder, “Is there a God? If He is there, how could He allow such suffering? Isn’t He listening? If He has the power to change things, why isn’t He doing it?
I am reminded of this verse in the Bible.
2 Chronicles 7:14
King James Bible
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
I am sure God has the power to change the state of affairs in one moment, but do we fulfill His criteria, to allow Him to do that?
The God of justice has rules, and doesn't change them to please people.
The way I see it, we're not obeying the rules of our Creator. Instead, we're putting away His Word, altering the Bible to suit us, and creating solutions that do not include Him at all.
Humans are carrying on with wicked and evil ways. We have grown proud and have participated in a revolt against our Creator. We think we are greater than God, if not equal. Do we even respect the 10 Commandments anymore?
The people in power are creating their own rules and solutions, which will only make them stronger, and the poor poorer.
...and here we are, lamenting and wondering, why isn't God doing anything!
We have chosen to disobey God; to do it our own way. Yet, when things go wrong, we put all the blame on God and say He doesn’t care. Is this fair? Some say, God is cruel and heartless to allow human suffering. Is this true?
Try to look at it from this perspective.
If you work for an organization - as an employee - you observe and respect the rules and regulations that have been set. If you violate them, there are consequences – and that can include being fired. Can you say that the organization is heartless to take action against you when you break the rules?
If you continually break the rules, and no action is taken against you – how does that reflect on your boss?
Likewise, we live in a world that has been created by God. The rules have been laid out. If we humans violate the commandments and mess things up, don’t we deserve to pay the price? Isn't discipline needed for correction?
If God magically mends things every time we screw up, without us having to do anything about it – what will it say about Him?
Even then, through His loving-kindness, we have not been destroyed completely as we deserve. Lightning doesn’t strike us dead every time we disobey. We are given chances after chances. Shouldn’t we be grateful?
Humans were created to rule over the earth. Genesis 1:26 says: Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'
Has the human race done an excellent job in RULING the earth? Just look at the financial system weakening, the environment deteriorating and wars with no ending. Who is to blame?
What are God’s ways of ruling the earth? It definitely involves responsibility, integrity, justice, fairness and peace.
Have we utilized the resources given to us with those qualities, or have we ravaged our planet?
We were given a job to do, but we messed up. Yet, we are not humble enough to seek God. We carry on disobeying him. Worse still – we come up with plans that totally disregard Him!
Mankind has brought its own woes upon itself, since the very beginning in the Garden of Eden - through disobedience and sin.
If only humankind understood the rules, and honored the very first job given to us; there will be righteousness, integrity, justice, peace and harmony in all the nations.
But no, we have chosen evil ways – greed, lust and power for personal gain, over the good of mankind.
We, as a few individuals, can pray and beg God to save the world, but structural sins (sins of a community / country / world as a whole) is involved here - which needs cleansing of the entire social system.
When I sin as an individual, I confess my personal sins, I change my ways, and I am forgiven. This is sufficient for my personal salvation.
But when a community, country or the world sins collectively, is my individual prayer and change enough? Are my actions as a single person enough to save the entire world? No!
We look around and ask “WHY?” when disaster strikes here and there. Yet, we fail to realize something - the very fact that the entire human race is not destroyed in the blink of an eye for the mess we have caused, is purely by the LOVE and GRACE of GOD.
Is the God who holds the whole world in His hand, a slave to do our bidding? NO! We should learn to respect and obey Him! Just because He is slow to anger, abounding in love and is giving us time to change, we should never take it for granted.
Collectively - have we humbled ourselves? Do we pray? Do we seek God's face? Do we turn from our wicked ways?
When it comes to God versus the human race, it is easy to ask, “God, why aren’t You doing something?”
But really, we should ask, “Are we willing to do our part?”
JJ
When it comes to God versus the human race, it is easy to ask, “God, why aren’t You doing something?”
But really, we should ask, “Are we willing to do our part?”
JJ
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