As I shared on Sunday, C.S. Lewis' quote - "Evil is atheism's most potent weapon against the Christian faith," illustrates this burning question that seems to turn many away from believing in God.
If you were not here on Sunday, it might be good to go and listen to the my message before perusing the rest of this information. However, if you were there, then you know that I intended on posting the information below as supplemental to the message because there is SO VERY MUCH to discuss on this topic. One Sunday really doesn't do it justice! (no pun intended)
Besides the point I shared on Sunday [that God knows all and sees and it is our perspective that needs to change about God - not the other way around], no matter what the point is that is supposed to substantiate that feeling of forsakenness when bad things happen there is no head knowledge that is going to help out us feel better. It is only through the heart that God will show us that He is there and does in fact care about what is happening to us.
That being said, here is the additional background information (not heart/not feeling) that I offered on Sunday to be posted here. (Note: This post is LONG! Read the whole thing!)
The Seven Pillars
1. God’s character is loving, good, and righteous.
“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right (Genesis 18:25)?”
As we see in the movie, “God is good…all the time.”
2. He has given us freedom to choose to love Him, or reject Him.
True love must be a choice, or it is robotic.
3. This freedom resulted in a fallen world with evil, sin, and real dangers.
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12).”
Everything is broken and the world is not how it was intended to be originally.
4. He intensely desires restored fellowship with us.
“Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, "though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool (Isaiah 1:18).”
God longs to be gracious to us, and to be reunited in fellowship.
5. His love is so great that He gave up His only Son to restore that relationship.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).”
He didn’t just say He loved us; He showed it by giving up His very best.
6. But sin remains in our fleshly body and the physical world temporarily.
“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please (Galatians 5:17).”
The effects of the curse remain, but it has now lost its power and permanence.
7. We can trust His finished work because He defeated death (sin) by resurrection.
“By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10).”
The empty tomb proves His triumph over sin and death, and our own empty graves.
As you can see, each of these could be their own sermon topic!
I did like this analogy that was in the supplement:
Imagine it like this, the baby that you and your spouse created has diaper rash, and not only a rash, but a horrible, painful rash that is so bad that it is cracked, swollen, and red beyond even being able to touch it without a scream from your beloved baby.
Do you ignore it, wrap on a new diaper, and call it good?
Not if you love your baby.
You go to the doctor, who causes more pain with an examination, prescribing baths and ointments that require more touching with towels and lotions.
In the midst of this painful ordeal to heal the rash, your baby turns to you and says, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME? HOW CAN YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME WHEN YOU ALLOW ALL THIS TORTUROUS RUBBING?! YOUR ACTIONS MAKE NO SENSE! STOP HURTING ME!”
Further than the 7 Pillars, there are 7 suppositions as well. Here they are:
The Seven Suppositions
Supposition 1: Evil is real and people are blinded by their sin
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).”
This shouldn’t require much corroboration if you’ve ever driven in rush hour. People are selfish, mean, and spiritually dead. Doubt it?
Then why do we all have locks on our cars and homes? Policeman carry guns, metal detectors are everywhere, and we see murders every day on the news. Or whom do you look for first in your family photo? You!
Evil is real, sin is real, and mankind is infected with a self-centered nature.
If you have any doubt about evil, just check out some of the comments on the God’s Not Dead trailer on YouTube.
Supposition 2: His ways are higher than our ways
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).”
As ironic as it seems, our indignation, confusion, and questioning of God’s intent, motives, and ultimate purpose for our lives demonstrates our own rebellious nature. We question His goodness and so prove our unworthy state of brokenness in doubting His goodness.
He has a purpose and a plan as Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, `plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
We cannot explain the why of God’s ways, but A. W. Tozer comes close:
“All God's acts are done in perfect wisdom, first for His own glory, and then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time. And all His acts are as pure as they are wise, and as good as they are wise and pure. Not only could His acts not be better done: a better way to do them could not be imagined. An infinitely wise God must work in a manner not to be improved upon by finite creatures.”
Supposition 3: There is no innocence; we are all guilty
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“Nobody’s perfect” is an old adage that sums up our fallen condition nicely.
At its very heart, this is a faulty question to ask God why He allows “innocent” people to suffer. We are all guilty before a holy God. None of us are innocent. Everyone has broken God’s law, and as James says, “
This is not to say that He takes any delight in our suffering or is not sympathetic, but He would be just to do whatever he deems right to do with His rebellious creation. We have broken His holy laws, ruined His paradise, thumbed our nose at Him, and when tragedy strikes we ask why He allowed it to happen.
He asks the same thing of us…“how could you let this happen when I have done so much for you? I gave you my Word to show you how to live and My only Son to redeem you.” Anything we receive in this life is pure grace because we are criminals before a holy and righteous God Who has every right to punish our sin.
Supposition 4: Suffering can lead to repentance
2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4)?”
Sometimes breaking our hearts, breaking our self-dependence, helps us to see our need for God. This is the biggest point of all…suffering can result in salvation which is His ultimate goal for us.
Suffering alerts us to our need for help, a cure for our illness when it becomes so acute that it motivates us to go to the doctor. Pain drives us into His arms for solace, answers, and help.
Being flat on our back, our last resort can result in finally looking up to Him. In the film, we see an apparent tragedy in time and space is really an act of God’s mercy for eternity.
Supposition 5: Suffering can lead to a deeper dependence on God
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).”
If you are a Christian, times of trouble can bring you closer to God. It can also be a training ground in character or faith to trust Him more (James 1:2) to be more holy by being pruned and transformed to be more Christ-like (John 15:1), or as a way to comfort others who are now going through a problem you faced already (2 Co 1:4).
God even uses our suffering for His glory and eventual good (Romans 8:28).
Supposition 6: Let’s blame the right guy
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An elderly man had to endure his wife’s dementia, stroke, and eventually her death. When his son asked him if he blamed God, he said, “God? Why would I blame Him? It’s not His fault we get old and die.”
In short, we ignore that there is a real being who is evil who should take the blame for this messed up world, not God. But how quick others are to blame God for evil, and its resulted death sentences.
God allowed for our free choice to love Him voluntarily and part of that free will choice means some will choose to rebel, as Satan did. It must be so to have true love.
The Bible, however, puts the blame correctly on a rebel named Lucifer, a real spiritual villain who deceived Eve (remember Adam sinned knowingly) by questioning God’s word in order to wreck God’s Paradise, or so Lucifer thought. And so, this world is a broken creation, as are we…spiritually dead…but it was never God’s fault.
Supposition 7: Consider God’s past dealings
“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope (Romans 15:4).”
In the Bible there are several tragedies that the people of that time must have wondered our same question, Where is God when life falls apart?
Think about Noah and the flood, the Egyptian enslavement of Israel, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC, Joseph being sold into slavery, the murder of babies by Herod, and even the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. These were horrendous events that God turned around and used for the ultimate good of mankind.
When we consider past tragedies in the Bible, and how God used our bad choices, we get a glimpse of how His purposes can result for our good. We get a peek behind the curtain, so to speak, and see the Wizard at work.
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So after posting all of this information, I think it helps us understand why but it doesn't help our hearts feel better about the junk in the world.
What helped me the most was what I found and shared on Sunday. That we only see dimly, foggy and fuzzy what God's purposes are in this world and that I have to trust God to be who He is when junk happens. He has always been faithful to me. He has always been there when many have emotionally or spiritually fled from me. God was there. Is there. So the answer, at least for me, to the question of "Where is God when things fall apart?" is that God was right there with me all the time. All the time God held me during the junk of life. All the time He carried me, walked beside me, comforted me and cried with me. Just as He did when His Son died on the cross. God is good. All the time.
