Coming Face to Face with Reality

On this Tuesday after the tragedy in Boston, Massachusetts, all of America, and the world is morning with those who morn and crying with those who are hurting and praying for those who are in need.  I continue to be amazed at the response of the human spirit to run into the face of adversity seconds after the bomb went off.  The care and compassion of the people in Boston has been a true example to us all.  We continue to pray and lift up those who are affected by this senseless act of terror.

Our pastor, John Mark Caton, is in the middle of a sermon series called, "Making Sense out of the Nonsense of Life".  This tragic event brings up the struggle we face with trying to understand why something like this could happen.  Who would do such a thing?  Many even try to understand why God would allow such a thing to happen.  Believe me, I am not here to answer this question, but I am here to meet this question face to face with the reality that GOD IS IN CONTROL.

The Bible shares with us that from the beginning of time, there has always been a struggle for control in the universe (Ezekiel 14).  God has always be in control, and when Lucifer challenged his leadership and actually wanted to be God himself, God the Father cast him out of heaven to eternal separation from heaven in a place called hell (Isaiah 28) .  Here we see the division of "Good and Evil", and when Adam and Eve fell into the temptation from Satan in the Garden of Eden, (Genesis 3) the separation brought evil and destruction to the earth.  You see, Satan wants to be your god and to distract you from God the Father, yet God is ultimately the one who is in control, yet he allows this world to continue to exist with destruction and heartache.  That is the difficult part to understand, from my perspective.

My response?  If God did not allow us as humans to struggle with the understanding of good and evil and control for dominance in the universe, I would be a robot with no chance of choosing or making my own decisions.  We all make choices, and there are consequences, both good and bad, for these choices.  Ultimately, God wants us to choose Him.  Some would even go as far as to say that God has chose His people from the beginning of time!  Yet, we all have choices to make.  The difficult part is when someone, like a bomber, chooses to make a bad evil choice, innocence is destroyed.  Why?

Answer...God is in control.  I trust Him, his word, the Bible, and rely on Him to use a situation (for example, like this evil act of bombing) to bring glory to who He is.  Sounds odd and even simplistic to write and say, and even more difficult to flesh out in real life.  This might be true, but when someone is struggling in the moment of a tragedy like this, we are not called to answer the questions, but to love and care for people and reach out to them, listen to them and be there for them.  In the end, God has a plan.  He always has a plan for your life.

I rely on a couple of themes in my life to focus my attention daily, and many times, these themes help me see through the confusion of life.  I am not called to judge why things happen.  I am not called to be God, but to worship God.  I am not called understand all things, I am called to respond to God and who He is in my life and worship Him.  I am called to love God with all that I am and to love those around me as best as I can.  Only God can truly give clarity to a situation that is inconceivable to understand.  It is only through knowing God that in times like confusion and tragedy that God is seen as our hope and our future.

So, as you come face to face with discerning through your knowledge and understanding of this topic, I just want to remind you that God is in control.  Trust Him and rely on Him.

For more articles about this topic, please visit these great and helpful websites...
www.denisonforum.org/faith-questions/64-why-does-a-good-god-allow-an-evil-world
www.janetdenison.com/blog/150-a-beautiful-terrible-fearful-day-in-boston
www.denisonforum.org/america/688-boston-bombings-2-ways-to-respond
www.gotquestions.org/God-allow-evil.html

I welcome your comments...Praying for God's will to be known through this topic

God Has an Example for You

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12:2-4) 

In living out our purpose, we may grow tired of “running” and feel like we can’t do it. That’s why we have a goal on which to fix our eyes—Jesus Christ, who came to the earth to live a perfect life and die on the Cross for our sins. Jesus set the perfect example for us to follow.  

If you are frustrated and struggling to find your purpose in life today, pause for a moment and gather your thoughts and methodically think through what you are focused on.  If these areas are not centered around the working of Jesus Christ as your example, then God is trying to get your attention.  Follow Jesus as your example for purpose for life today.

God has a Plan

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw o everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1)

We are not on the planet by chance. God created each one of us for a purpose. The book of Hebrews compares our life purpose to a race and calls us to be encouraged by those who have gone before us in the race and to give our best. We also see that sin is something that can trip us up and keep us from doing our best in the race. Our job is to run and avoid the sin.

Are you allowing sin to distract you from God's plan for your life? Identify the sin, confront the sin, run to God and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and run the race that is marked out for you today.