Where was God?

“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
                                                                                                – Revelations 20:10

Where was God?
Are you asking it, is your neighbor, are your kids, your friends or your family?

Tragedies are happening in today’s world at an alarming rate.  More so than any time in my 50(+/-) history.  Between natural disasters like tornados, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and wild fires to terrorism like we have all seen over the last year in London, France, Spain, Africa, US and the Middle East.  We see mass shootings, car bombings, slitting of throats, kidnappings, hostages, sex trafficking, shoe bombs, backpack bombs, militarized drones and weaponized vehicles and look for one single place to point the blame.  Because we can’t imagine that people are so evil, cruel and self centered we must find something to blame it all on.

I must admit, I’m venting a little bit today.  What is going on in our world is tragically sad and disturbing on so many different levels.  It’s evidence to me that we live in a very evil world, but we have become hardened to it and have almost learned to accept it as the new normal.  It’s not completely new, even though we all believe that is just our generation.  For centuries mankind have been killing one another in defense of their own personal agenda and desires for the world to be like them.  It has always centered around man’s differences with others rather than freedom for mankind. 

 Evil exist within the mind of individuals in this world.  I’m not talking about a dozen here or there, I’m talking about every single one of us.  Murder, rape, kidnapping and abuse are external examples of a serious illness in mankind, not the norm.  It’s taking the evil that is in this world and choosing to agree with it, and act upon it.  It’s putting your self interests and desires above that of another human being, and diminishing their interests and desires in the process.  It’s a pride filled, self justified belief that because someone is different, weak or vulnerable you have the right to enact evil upon them.  We all have the capability of enacting on evil, but those of sane minds, loving compassion and tolerance are also capable of realizing evil when they see it, and turning the other way. 

One of the biggest evil’s we have all acted upon at one point in our life is vengeance and the inability to forgive another for their wrong-doing.  In this world we have created a philosophy that if someone has a different opinion they are on the wrong side.  It’s not a game, it’s not a competition, there are no trophies at the end and no ticker tape parades.  People have taken our differences and turned them into a win/loss competition, which has ended in murder, just because someone was different than you.  This is the evil in the world, not the lack of love from the Father.

When you or someone asks, “Where was God?”, or “Why would God allow this?”, they are actually looking to blame someone other than the humanity which created these problems in the first place.  The challenge takes this form: Is God omnipotent, Yes; is God omniscient, Yes; is God omnipresent, Yes; then if all of those things are true, He could have prevented this from happening, right?  The answer is yes, He is all powerful, sovereign and all knowing.  It is not beyond His power and authority to miraculously save people from evil (eg. Parting the Red Sea, 40 years in the desert, taking Cannan from the giants, walls of Jericho, warning Joseph to go to Egypt, freeing Peter from prison, freeing Paul from prison, and so on and so on).  So the question isn’t about His authority, but rather His love for us and why we should have to go through the situation at all.

When did man turn against God, and start blaming Him?  It doesn’t take long to realize that we have always been against God, ever since Adam and Eve defied Him in the garden.  Over all of time, mankind, in general, has been more interested in ourselves than we are in God.  Oh sure, we lift our hands and sing our songs, we read our bibles, we pray and we praise Him for the good things in our life; but like any entitled child, we are quick to whine and blame Him when things don’t go our way.  Mankind is more centered on our lives, our comfort and success than we are on living for Him.  This is the evil of this world.  It’s not hidden behind a mask, a gun, a knife or a bomb; it is right out there in the open and instilled in every one of us.  Because we are of this world, first and foremost and it takes a dramatic change in one’s life to break this inherent evil.

First, realize that God never promised that He would stop the evil in this world from happening to us.  He said He was the Alpha and Omega.  He created the world and He will end it.  In between, it is up to us.  His promise in revelations is that the evil one, Satan, will end up in the firey pit, the abyss forever more.  Until that time, he is free to reign in this world.  We’ve seen the proof of this in the recent acts of terror, and we need to continuously be aware of his presence in our midst.  So often we fail to realize that we are in the presence of angels and at the same time the presence of demons. 

God allowed Satan to have reign here in this realm, if you recall from Job 1:7 and 12 “The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”…..” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.”  God has authority over Satan, but we all know that Satan’s goal is to vault himself above the throne of God as in Isaiah 14:13-14 “{God speaking to Satan} "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' “

This war has been going on since the beginning of time, and it will continue until the Lord’s return.  For you see, God did promise to His children, that they would be protected.  As human’s we take this literally in this life and wonder why we get sick, hurt and terrible things happen to us.  What we don’t realize though is that God’s plan is for our salvation, not our comfort each day.  God, by His grace, made a way for mankind to be ultimately protected from eternity with the evil one in Hell.  God provided salvation through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and those who believe in Him.  We must realize that this life is not all there is.  We all have a finite end in store for us.  God is all loving and all powerful to provide you a path to eternal peace in His kingdom. 

So when people ask Why God allows, or Where was God…simply answer He is on His throne focused on our eternal fate, right where He promised He would be.  Evil will continue here on this earth, not because God condones it, but because Satan is alive and well.  But, remember who the supreme authority of heaven and earth truly is.  God has allowed Satan’s power here on earth, and will take it away one day.  Then and only then will we know true peace amongst mankind.


   

Be Blessed,

Rich

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