According to a Barna study, the number one question people would ask God is “why is there suffering in the world?” It is a question that keeps many people from considering God in their lives. If God is good but there are bad things in the world, is He REALLY good? God is also loving and powerful. So the philosophical argument becomes: If God is loving, he should want to stop suffering. If he’s all powerful, he’s capable of stopping suffering. But suffering still exists. So is God NOT good, loving and powerful?
Nailing down the goodness of God - his true character - is huge in the Christian journey. Image of God issues play out in all aspects of life and relationships. Pastor Adam’s teaching and this week’s study pose some interesting questions regarding all of this. Won’t you consider them during your times with God?
What if there are more attributes to God than you have considered? In addition to being loving and kind, He is all KNOWING. He is all WISE. God is also OUTSIDE of time and space. We are only two dimensional. Could it be that suffering actually has purposes that we cannot wrap our finite brains around? Could suffering actually play a role in God’s LOVE for you and I? Could we be guilty of attributing God’s goodness to things we desire and want in our lives? Are we making God in our own image? Could we be limited in our knowledge and understanding of what is truly “good?” Could something be “good” and “loving” even if I personally don’t like it and it brings hardship?
Pastor Adam used a personal analogy to point out how we may not have the full picture. Adam’s adopted son from China is blind. Adam and Tiffany allow Nate to go up the street to gather their mail. What if Adam and Nate have an agreement that Adam will throw a rock at him should he need to stop walking and as a warning of danger. And, we shall assume that pastor Adam just happens to be a phenomenal aim with a rock. So one day Nate goes to retrieve the mail and is about to cross the street and Adam sees that a car is approaching. Adam hurls his rock at Nate, hits him in the arm and Nate stops walking. The rock likely saved Nate’s life. Adam likely saved Nate’s life by throwing the rock. However, if there happened to be a nosy neighbor peeking out her blinds at all this and all she sees is Adam throwing a rock at his son, what do you think she would think? God sees and understands the FULL picture. We are looking at the world through our own lens, and only peeking through the blinds.
INVITATION: You are invited into Scripture this week as we explore the personal love and goodness of God. Can you embrace the possibility of not having all the answers and the mystery that God’s ways are higher than our ways? Could it be you and I are not qualified to judge what is “good” or “fair” in our lives?
MONDAY: Romans 8:28: ALL things. As we sit in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, do your feelings match up with the truth expressed in this verse? Does this scripture give you hope today, or does it make you confused and maybe even angry? How can you bring that to God in prayer? It is important to realize Paul wrote this during a time of suffering and persecution. He wasn’t just trying to bring a “hallmark card” type quote to people.
TUESDAY: Romans 8:31-32: God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He makes everlasting covenants as these scriptures talk about. How can the promises of God contained in scripture be a comfort to you today? One is He will never “leave you or forsake you” from Hebrews. How can you take that with you into your day today?
WEDNESDAY: Romans 8:35-39: Prayerfully read this passage about God’s love toward His people. Let yourself be open to the richness of the images God is using to show you the depth and unconditional nature of HIs love. You are a conqueror because of God’s love for you. How can you live into that truth today?
THURSDAY: John 11:1-6: Someone Jesus loved was sick. Others he loved were heartbroken by the sickness. Yet Jesus “stayed where he was two more days.” Jesus knew what he was going to do. He knew the bigger picture that others could not see. Would you have doubted Jesus if you were Mary or Martha? Do you doubt Jesus now in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic? Consider being honest with God about your feelings today. He promises never to leave you or forsake you—including times when you doubt Him.
FRIDAY: John 11:17-36: Jesus knew the full picture, yet he wept with his friends—even though he knew he would soon raise Lazarus from the dead. We serve a compassionate and personal savior. God does not waste pain and suffering. It has a purpose. Can you trust God in this? Can you trust God in this space and time with the Corona virus?
SATURDAY: Pastor Adam listed some good things that come from suffering. Are your eyes open to these possibilities in your life right now?
Can help us turn from sin
Can help us rely more on Jesus
Can aid in our journey toward Christ-likeness (sanctification)
God’s original plan was for only good things.
Sin brought bad things.
Bad things are not good things.
God makes bad things work for good.
The BEST things are yet to come. We are not made for this world.
“If we find ourselves with a desire (perhaps no suffering?) that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” C.S. Lewis