Must We Know Why Bad Things Happen?

Why do bad things happen? The most agonizing question we face concerns why. Why cancer? Why a car accident? Why a pandemic? Why doesn’t God stop evil things like war and murder and injustice? After all, God is all powerful. One answers is that God chooses to allow people the free exercise of their wills in world which they themselves have broken.

To demand God act in a way that we think is right is to ignore our utter ignorance of all the inter-connected factors of existence and to deny his wisdom. Listen to what the earliest biblical book and the last book declares. “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his” (Job 12:13). “The Living creatures worshipped saying, Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen! (Rev. 7:12)

Can we worship God for his wisdom, without demanding an understanding of why things happen? Listen to Job again. “He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.…[Zophar asks]; Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heaven . . . deeper than the depths of the sea” (Job 5:9; 11:7).

Listen to A.W. Tozer in his book, Knowledge of the Holy. “In spite of tears and pain and death we believe that the God who made us all is infinitely wise and good. As Abraham staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and was fully persuaded that what He had promised he was able to perform, so do we base our hope in God alone and hope against hope till the day breaks. We rest in what God is. I believe that this alone is true faith. Any faith that must be supported by the evidence of the sense is not real faith. ‘Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.’ (p. 67,68)

Tozer quotes Gerhard Tersteegen on page 69: Let him lead thee blindfold onwards,/Love needs not to know;/Children whom the Father leadeth/Ask not where they go./Though the path be all unknown,/Over moors and mountains lone.

Or as Thomas Blacklock pens; In all our Maker’s grand designs, Omnipotence, with wisdom shines; His work, through all this wondrous frame, Declare the glory of His Name. 

Let Moses have the final word; The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29)

The Christian’s path is a path to be walked by faith with a song of worship ever in one’s mouth. Faith in God who is infinite, eternal, unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, goodness and truth.

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A Shelter During Times of Pestilence

Centuries before Covid-19’s second wave sent fear pulsing through human hearts in hot spots all over the world, the writer of Psalm 91 wrote about; “the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, the plague that destroys at midday.” Small pox and influenza and polio and the black death and a thousand other diseases stalked ancient civilizations long before the advent of vaccines and modern medicine. Life in most places was mean and short.

Added to their concerns about illness, were their concerns about ruthless armies. They never knew when they would have to flee; “the terror of night…the arrow that flies by day” (vs. 5). Millions of refuges around the world from places like Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Niger and Myanmar have experienced that terror. In each of those places, however, there are individuals who live above fear. They even know joy.

Then, as now, those who know their God find shelter in the Most High and are able to rest without fear in the shadow of the Almighty (vs. 1). The Almighty is their shield and rampart, their refuge and fortress.

God is omnipotent. There is no good thing he cannot do. His protection is not dependent upon the development of a vaccine. He can “command his angels concerning you” (vs. 11). We are extremely grateful for nurses and doctors who care for us when we are sick. And we are extremely appreciative of scientists who have worked untiringly to produce a vaccine. We have so much to be thankful for in our day. BUT?

God has not called us to live with fear, even in the most challenging circumstances. What can we do? Ensuring that we have an intimate connection with our heavenly Father through faith in Jesus Christ is the most effective thing we can do in these times. “Make the Most High your dwelling” (vs. 9). He alone is infinite, eternal, all powerful in his wisdom, love and grace.

Even if evil comes, those who trust in Christ have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven” (1Peter 1:4).

(Let me know your thoughts on this subject. If you appreciate this blog, please pass it on. Further articles, books, and stories at: http://www.countrywindow.ca Facebook: Eric E Wright Twitter: @EricEWright1 LinkedIn: Eric Wright ––)

There’s No Call Waiting on the Divine Phone.

Suppose you have a personal crisis, where do you go for help? To someone powerful but distant like our Canadian Prime Minister, or to someone close at hand? Your mom or dad, your sibling or best friend? The answer seems obvious unless you are estranged from your loving family and friends. Well, if we are converted, God is our Father and Jesus is our friend. God invites us to take our problems to him for he is closer than our skin.

In this series of blogs on the attributes of God, we’ve been looking at God’s omnipresence. He is immense; he fills the whole universe. Although present, he is transcendent, that is—completely separate or distinct from all created things. But that’s not all the truth about God. He is also IMMANENT; closer than our heartbeat. This is what astounded David in Psalm 139. “Where shall I go from your Spirit?…Where shall I flee from your presence?…up to the heavens You are there…in the depths, you are there” (vs 7,8). How much of God is there? Just a tiny fragment of his immensity? No, all of God.

Have you ever wondered how God could be with Bashir in Pakistan and Betty in Belleville—at the same time? No wonder the Psalmist cried out in vs. 6, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” This is beyond all experience and understanding.

We’re used to trying to get through to a government department only to be shunted through a series of numbers and finally be told that the mailbox of messages is full. “Try again later.” Or we’re told that the number is no longer in service. Even in our homes we’re used to being distracted by Johnny climbing on the table while Sarah cries from her room.

God is never distracted by a million people wanting his attention. He never postpones hearing our cries until he is free to listen. He never makes us wait. He gives to each of us his full attention. Impossible? Yes, impossible to anyone who is not immanent in his relationship to us as our Father and friend.

When David wrote in Psalm 23 that the LORD is our shepherd who leads us, it means he gives us the full attention of his love, mercy and wisdom. When David exclaimed in Psalm 139 verses 17 and 18 that God’s thoughts toward us are precious and vast beyond counting, he is expressing incredulity at the way the infinite God focuses his concern, not generally on all mankind, but individually on each of us. It is Incredible!

What a God we serve; immense, transcendent and immanent in his omnipresence! Let these thoughts reverberate in our minds and move us to worship. And let’s remember them the next time we cry out for help. God is closer than our heartbeat.

(Let me know your thoughts on this subject. If you appreciate this blog, please pass it on. Further articles, books, and stories at: http://www.countrywindow.ca Facebook: Eric E Wright Twitter: @EricEWright1 LinkedIn: Eric Wright ––)

 

Can Mother Nature Answer Your Prayers?

Isn’t mother nature wonderful? No. Mother nature doesn’t exist. She is a figment of mankind’s overheated imagination. God is everywhere, but God is not everything. This is his TRANSCENDENCE, a second aspect of his omnipresence along with his IMMENSITY.

Belief in mother nature is pantheism revived in the New Age movement and in the popularity of many Eastern religious concepts. God is present everywhere but distinct from everything. This is a peculiarity of his omnipresence. He created time but he is outside of time. He created men and women but has no arms or legs. God created metals but he is not metallic. God created water but he is not wet.

As the great Puritan, Thomas Watson wrote; “Though God is in all places, in the heart of a sinner by his inspection, and in hell by his justice, yet he does not mingle with the impurity, or receive the least tincture of evil. No more than the sun shining on a dunghill is defiled, or its beauty spotted; or than Christ going among sinners was defiled.” This is God’s TRANSCENDENCE–how God is distinct from all things that he created.

Unfortunately, belief in pantheism is widespread. Because pantheists believe God is everything, strict Hindus worship cows and refuse to kill rats and insects. It is what is behind the liberal idea of a divine spark within us. “I see God’s light as being life itself. It is the divine spark that lives within me and lights up my life. I give thanks for the constant shining of the light of God, the light which can never be put out.” (From a Toronto Star ad by the School of Unity) We were created in the image of God, but we are not a part of God.

Salvation is receiving Christ as Saviour to live within us. We invite the Holy Spirit to live within us. But we are not part of God. Christ is distinct. The Holy Spirit is distinct—not part of us.

Belief in pantheism is why the World Wildlife fund declared, “You are an eagle soaring high, a giant sequoia in California, a Beluga whale, a butterfly. . . No difference between us and them …” Well, no.

Of course, belief in pantheism along with belief in evolution destroys moral distinctions between right and wrong. Whatever is, is okay? No, in spite of what Yun Men, Zen Master has said; “If you want to get the plain truth, be not concerned with right or wrong. Conflict between right and wrong is the sickness of the mind.” “Christian Science, which is neither Christian nor scientific, would agree. Do we see why our cultures have degenerated?

In the next post I’ll consider the third aspect of God’s omnipresence. In the meantime, let us worship and draw comfort from the Real God who is with us. If he was not transcendent, we could not pray to him.

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Where Is God When I Need Him?

What does a two-year-old boy need to know about God when he’s in a dark room and afraid that there’s a boogey man under the bed? What does a man who faces serious surgery need to know about God? What does a convert to Christ surrounded by machete-wielding Muslims need to know about God?

They need to know that God is with them—ANYWHERE, EVERYWHERE. As Jesus said, “Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the age” (Matt28:20).

David in Psalm 139 meditated on God and realized that God knew everything about him, including his thoughts. He is omniscient. In his mind he attempted to flee from this convicting presence of God but concluded; “You hem me in behind and before;…Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me…”(Psalm 139:5, 7-9). God is everywhere.

In considering God’s omnipresence, we first need to meditate on his IMMENSITY. God told Jeremiah, “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord” (Jer. 23:23,24, KJV). At the dedication of the temple Solomon prayed; “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I have builded? (1 Kings 8:27, KJV).

If we could search to the end of the universe we would find no end to God. The universe exists in him. His immensity is infinite. None of us can escape his presence. In fact, In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We have no existence apart from him whose power through Jesus Christ keeps our atoms and components from flying apart. (See Col. 1:17).

The omnipresence of God has at least three facets; immensity, transcendence, and immanence. We’ll consider these in separate blogs. Each of these amazing qualities of the LORD has very practical applications to all who live on earth.

The reality of God’s immensity, to an unbeliever who accepts this truth, is a terrible truth. There is nowhere to flee from God’s all-seeing presence. To a believer it is a reality of marvelous comfort. If you are a disciple of Christ, take comfort today. He is with you to bless you.

(Let me know your thoughts on this subject. If you appreciate this blog, please pass it on.  All photos, my own, except first photo from Steve McCurry. Further articles, books, and stories at: http://www.countrywindow.ca Facebook: Eric E Wright Twitter: @EricEWright1 LinkedIn: Eric Wright ––)