part 3 of "Good God" series
Let’s start this post off with a story from my life.
When I was a wee little lad, my mom had told me over and over again not to touch the stove. “It’s hot!” she would tell me. “You are going to burn your hand!” The stove a certain charm to me for some reason and my mom’s words of warning really didn’t make sense. So one day my mom had given the warning again and I chose not to listen - because I am a hard headed person. I touched the hot stove door and burned my hand. I hurt obviously and I cried of course. But my mom comforted me and restated that I shouldn’t have touched the stove door because it was hot and could hurt me. I never touched the stove door again - by the way.
I started this post off with that story because I’m going reference it as we go on in this post. At the end of the post two weeks ago, I stated that “God has always allowed evil to be present in the world. This is why I said that God has not changed. He allowed it from the very beginning...” [1] We can see this in Genesis 2.
“The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’” Genesis 2:9+16-17 NIV
There it is right there! God allowed evil to be present in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Evil was present in the form of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is even in the name!
Adam and Eve didn’t even know that evil was a part of their world and the animals and things of the Garden didn’t know of their evil nature. Sharks didn’t know they were predators and could eat Adam and Eve while they swam with them. The lion and tigers and bears (oh my!) didn’t know that they were frolicking through the forest with their food. Adam and Eve didn’t know they had an evil side as well. They didn’t know evil was a part of their world until they opened Pandora’s Box when they ate from the tree (Genesis 3).
Now I know the question that comes to mind is “why would a good God put something evil in the world?” That is a really good question, but the answer isn’t what you think it will be. God did not put evil in the world. God put choice and free will in the world. God was giving Adam and Eve - as He does us - a choice. God presented Adam and Eve with Garden and the rules and let them live and make their choices. God did not swoop in either and smack their hand - as my mom did me in my story. God let them make their choice. My mom in my story eventually let me make my choice too.
God wanted His people to choose Him because they wanted to do so - not because there was no other choice. This is another way that God has not changed. God still allows His people - we are all His people by the way - to make the choices that they want to make - good or evil. This is the world we live in. We live in a world of choice and free will. We live in a world that is evil. So what does that mean for us?
Our Choice
We live in a world where we are free to make the choices in our life. The choices that we make lead to a consequence - good or bad. In my story, my consequence was a burned hand after choosing to not listen to my mom. Adam and Eve’s consequence was having to leave the Garden, a severed relationship with God Almighty and some other things (Genesis 3).
Their Choice
We live in a world where others are free - just as we are - to make choices in their lives. The choices that they make, however, not only effect their lives but the lives of others as well. The people of the world can choose to do good or bad as well. If they choose to do bad - steal, murder, abuse or other things - that then affects the lives of people. This where people have trouble with all of this because God is allowing it. But the thing is - He has to allow it. If He doesn’t allow it, as He always has, then He has changed. But God doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6 + James 1:17).
No Choice
We also live in a world where there are things that happen that no one causes. These things are sickness, natural disasters and other such things - see the story of Job. The major right now (as the writing of this post) is the global COVID-19 pandemic that is affecting the lives of millions of people in many ways. No one on the planet caused this virus to affect our lives - but it is. This is where we once again turn to God and wonder what is up. We wonder what He - in His infinite power - is doing to us from the heavens. We wonder why He is allowing this to happen and we wonder why He doesn’t just snap His mighty finger and stop it. Well, He didn’t start it. Adam and Eve started it when they opened Pandora’s Box on the world. But, God has to allow this stuff in the world because He is honoring the free will choice of Adam and Eve. If He does not do so, then He has changed and as we have already said many times in this post - He can’t change.
So what I am getting at? How am I going to make all of this make sense?
God has to allow what breaks his heart. God has to allow his people - His children if you will - go through some tough stuff because of the history of choices of mankind. My mom did the same thing in my story too. My mom allowed me to do something that would hurt her as well as me in order for me to understand. God doesn’t want anything bad to happen to us. This is not at all the way He designed things to be. But He has to let it all run its course. He has to let us continue with our free will and choices and the consequences - good and bad - that go along with them. But here is another thing that we miss when we are facing some stuff and blaming God...
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV
God is the God of comfort and just as any parent does He comes to comfort us IN ALL OUR TROUBLES! God comforted Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21). In my story, my mom comforted me after I burned my hand. God is there to comfort us when we face trouble. The Bible says that God is close to the broken-hearted and God save those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18).
God is closer to us than we think - especially right now in this season that we are all facing at different levels. God is there and ready to provide comfort for us. Lean into His comfort.
Also, continue in this series with us. Next week “The Mixing Bowl”. Join us.
[1] see post or podcast episode "God Isn't Responsible" at https://www.secondstageministries.com
Comments