Who's In Charge?

We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 (RSV)


This weekend's hiking trip to White Oak Canyon's lower falls went nicely. It was slightly overcast and a bit on the cool side. The baptism was an adventure; late September + mountain stream = COLD! Both Pastor Matt and Tabatha said, in effect, the same thing - the cold just sucked the breath out of both of them. Too bad for them; the scenery was awesome for the rest of us. :-)

We did have an incident along the trail, though. We encountered a swarm of bees along the way. Unfortunately, one of our dogs (we took our two boxers along, much to their regret) was stung repeatedly. She started to vomit, she had difficulty breathing and she developed hives on her legs and up her back. She was miserable. And that was on the way UP to the falls. To make it worse, we had failed to pack our Benadryl. Poor dog was really glad to make it home finally.

She's doing fine now, thanks for asking ...

Her story kind of ties into what I wanted to talk about this week. It brings us to this: God may not have meant it to be this way, but why doesn't He fix it now that is this way? Is He in control? Does He not care? Surely He could have made it so that bees wouldn't have stung our dog. Surely He could have healed her once she was stung.

This one will require some time and space, because there is not a "one size fits all" answer. I promise, if you bear with me, probably over the next two posts, I'll give my best answer. Part of the answer may leave you slightly dissatisfied; that will be where trust and faith will come into play.

Before we get into answering our questions, please allow me to tell a story and ask a few questions of my own.

In the course of conducting my business, I've come to know a young man whose father is very wealthy. The father wanted to help the son, so he bought a business and allowed the son to run it. The father was quite "hands off;" it was almost like the son was the owner. He made all of the decisions, paid the bills, hired the help, etc... Well, the son did not have much business background and there were some setbacks, some of them were not really controllable, that made it a bit more difficult for the son. The father would offer some advice here and there, but like I said, he really did not push the son or interfere. Eventually, you guessed it, the business went under.

My questions: Who owned the business, the father or the son? The father owned; the son ran it. Did the father have the right to step in anytime he wanted and take over? Of course he did. What would that have done for the son? Would he have learned anything for the long haul? What may it have done to their relationship?

Ah, you're sharp! You're right, I'm going to relate this to God and us (try to anyway).

First, it's important to remember that all of this exists only by God, through God and for God. (Colossians 1:16) It's His. He owns it. He has the right to do whatever He wants in it and to it. The "it" includes us and our surroundings and circumstances.

Second, with God, all things are possible! He can make the blind to see, the lame to walk and the deaf to hear. He can cure diseases, He can give and He can take away. That doesn't mean He always will, however.

And the final point for tonight, just as the father turned the keys to the business over to his son and kept his hands off, God has done a similar thing. When Adam and Eve rebelled (we often don't like to see it that way, but that's what it was), the keys to this world were turned over to another party - Satan. ( John 12:31, Ephesians 2:2; among others)

"What!" you say, "Satan is in control of this world?"

Yes, but with limits. (just read the 1st two chapters of Job) This fact alone explains a lot of the evil we see occurring, but I'll fill in more detail. Just remember this verse: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour ..." 1Peter 5:8.

But also remember this - there is one key that frees us from Satan's rule. I'll give you a hint in advance - John 14:6.

See ya later ...

God Created This? (part 2)

So ... the question is still out there - Did God create this?

The answer is really simple - absolutely YES! And definitely NO!

"Huh?", you ask. "What's up with that answer? It can't be both." OK, here we go. Just remember, you asked.

The answer is, God did create everything, but what we see today is but a remnant, a shadow, of the original. "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:1. But the heaven and earth that God created was perfect. In fact, during the account in Genesis, God says that what He had created was "good" five times, and "very good" once. He was quite satisfied with what He had created. There was no death, disease, sickness or suffering. James 1:17 reminds us that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." God desired us to have good then; He desires us to have good now. "Good" definitely would not have included suffering, mental anguish, etc... If it did, God would be a masochist and totally unreliable in His word. Scripture teaches that God IS love (1John 4). In 1 Cor. 13, God tells us what love is. It includes the following: love is patient and is kind, is not provoked, thinks (much less does) no evil, and does not rejoice in iniquity.

Unfortunately, Adam and Eve (yes - they were real people) sinned in the Garden of Eden (part of God's perfect creation), which was the beginning of the problems we see now.

"How so?" - you ask, and I'm glad you did. It all comes down to "personal responsibility." Sometimes, our actions carry consequences, in spite of our sorrow at, and apologies for, our own actions. Sometimes, they don't. The point is, whether we face consequences or not, we would deserve consequences, received, or not. As a general rule, our actions don't occur in a vacuum either; someone is usually affected by our deeds.

God, though He had created everything perfectly, had also told Adam and Eve there would be consequences for their actions, if they did not do what He asked of them. The penalty for one specific act of disobedience was death (Gen. 2:17). You guessed it, they did it. And because they did it, we too suffer the consequences of their actions. Not just humankind, either. All of creation "groans" because of their disobedience (Romans 8:22). Severe? Maybe. But when you are the Creator of everything and hold everything together by Your power, you sort of have the right to set the rules - don't you? Is it Congress' fault if you don't pay your taxes and end up in jail? Hardly. And guess what - if you pass away before your debt is settled - your estate pays up before your descendants receive a dime. In other words, someone else is affected by your actions.

Oh, and remember those earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, etc that we said weren't "natural?" That's right - caused by the "curse" of Adam and Eve's disobedience. Not that they couldn't have happened before, but I don't think they did. If God created everything "good," and we know the destructive power of these "natural" catastrophies, it seems logical that, at the very least, God restrained them from occurring. There's more bad news, I'm afraid. Not only will they continue to occur, but they will get worse as time moves forward. You don't have to take my word for it, God says so, too. That's right, Matt 24 (among others) talks about the things to come. Also, don't forget the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: "'In a simple manner, the second law states that "energy systems have a tendency to increase their entropy (chaos)" rather than decrease it.'" (Wikipedia) In other words, this "law" of physics, which by the way, God would have created, and used Himself, says that things will continue to "run down," or degrade, as time passes by. Science proving the Bible - what a concept!

So here's the deal - God absolutely did create everything, perfectly, in the beginning, but it has been corrupted. He is definitely not responsible for what we see today. Humans are. What we see now is but a faint, barely intelligible remnant of the original. That's not to say you can't still get a glimpse of God in this creation (Romans 1:19,20), you just have to look a little harder to find Him.

I think I'll end here tonight. In the next few posts, I'll look at: God's role now; is He still in control, or not? Is this all there is to look forward to? How about mixing "religion" and "science," can it be done?

Just one thought for you until next time, from the book of Jeremiah, "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."