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Reading the News Through the Lens of Faith- 2
By Dan | May 15, 2008
I’ve started to become numb to the words. Has it happened to you yet?
Cyclone in Myanmar- thousands dead and the government is stopping help, not giving it. Tornadoes in the Midwest level homes and kill at least 10. An earthquake in China that has killed thousands with the number rising by the hour.
The words, the numbers, they’re too hard to imagine. It numbs me when it gets that big. And sometimes that’s what I want. I just want to be numb to all the pain that’s going on in the world. And I want to be numb to the questions. After all, haven’t I answered that question, “Why does a good God allow. . . to happen?” enough times. Don’t people have it figured out yet?
No. I can’t be numb to this. I can’t be numb to the pain, so I’ve started to look at the pictures and videos so that I can understand it’s real people. And while I don’t want to talk about this question either, I’ve got to force myself to do that as well.
Have you noticed that? No matter how many times we answer these kinds of questions, they keep arising. Sometimes it’s when there’s a big disaster, but oftentimes, it’s when something hits a person in their own life- when someone gets sick, loses a job, etc.
And that’s how I read this story. It’s the age-old question rising again. That’s something we always need to be ready to do, help people look at these stories and sort through God’s role, and then be ready to apply it to themselves.
What variations on the age old question have you been hearing lately? How do you deal with it when people ask it, even though they kind of know the answer? How do you keep yourself from getting numb to things like this?
Topics: News Through Faith |
May 15th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I just read a news article stating how minor this earthquake really is in the grand scheme of things because in the ’70s, China had a similar earthquake that killed about 250K people. Was the writer numb? or dumb?
May 15th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
We all take to blaming quite easily and this question, Why does God allow to happen, places the blame on God. Why? I think we can all agree that it is because God is all powerful, all knowing, and present everywhere. So effectively He has the power to make to go away or never exist. But what if He were to do that? Where would that leave you and I? Have you ever made happen? I am sure that there are times in my life when I could substitute my own name for . Because I am a sinner I have made bad things happen. I haven’t made an earth quake or anything of that nature, or have I? With all of our research we are beginning to discover that perhaps we are the reason the earth quakes, the ice caps melt, the hole in the ozone grows, etc. etc. We sin without even trying or thinking or wanting to sin. And sin is the reason bad things happen. I don’t know the answer to every fill in the blank but I do know that I am really glad that God didn’t prevent me from happening. God loves us infinitely, He knew us before we were born, He knew our sins before we were born and yet He chose to love us still. God is love. To end all the horrible things that happen in the world, He would ultimately have to destroy every human being who ever sinned starting with the parents of the human race, Adam and Eve. He could have taken that path, He is God. But He is also love. So, instead He chose to send His only Son to die for us and take on the consequence of our sin thus giving us each an opportunity to live and experience His love. Furthermore, He invites us to join Him in heaven for a life of love eternally. With that in perspective I would like to rephrase the question to; Now that has happened how can God use me to love those who are hurting? God doesn’t make the bad things go away for a lot of reasons we can’t even comprehend but He certainly uses us to make good things come of it. (Romans 8:28-39).
May 15th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Can you tell that I always got the comment “does not follow directions” on my homework? An important phrase was left out of my previous post because I forgot to follow the rules of blogging. Here is how it should read:
We all take to blaming quite easily and this question, Why does God allow …insert bad thing… to happen, places the blame on God. Why? I think we can all agree that it is because God is all powerful, all knowing, and present everywhere. So effectively He has the power to make …insert bad thing… to go away or never exist. But what if He were to do that? Where would that leave you and I? Have you ever made …insert bad thing… happen? I am sure that there are times in my life when I could substitute my own name for …insert bad thing…. Because I am a sinner I have made bad things happen. I haven’t made an earth quake or anything of that nature, or have I? With all of our research we are beginning to discover that perhaps we are the reason the earth quakes, the ice caps melt, the hole in the ozone grows, etc. etc. We sin without even trying or thinking or wanting to sin. And sin is the reason bad things happen. I don’t know the answer to every fill in the blank but I do know that I am really glad that God didn’t prevent me from happening. God loves us infinitely, He knew us before we were born, He knew our sins before we were born and yet He chose to love us still. God is love. To end all the horrible things that happen in the world, He would ultimately have to destroy every human being who ever sinned starting with the parents of the human race, Adam and Eve. He could have taken that path, He is God. But He is also love. So, instead He chose to send His only Son to die for us and take on the consequence of our sin thus giving us each an opportunity to live and experience His love. Furthermore, He invites us to join Him in heaven for a life of love eternally. With that in perspective I would like to rephrase the question to; Now that …insert bad thing… has happened how can God use me to love those who are hurting? God doesn’t make the bad things go away for a lot of reasons we can’t even comprehend but He certainly uses us to make good things come of it. (Romans 8:28-39).
May 15th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
It is an interesting discussion to start thinking about the effects or our own sins. So often we do try to partition them off, when in reality the effects go deep, far, and wide. Just think about the first sin of Adam and Eve. Surely eating fruit of the tree shouldn’t cause pain, death, disease, and a host of other problems? The reality is that God tells us that our sins do ripple out in physical, spiritual, and emotional waves.
Thanks for the interesting thought there Terylee. It wasn’t an angle I was thinking of, but another piece to this whole eternal question.
By the way did you notice that I’ve traded places with all my TX friends from CSP? You’ve all seemed to stick it out up there in MN and I’m now enjoying the beauty of the Lone Star State.