I have often heard people attempting to defend the character of God by claiming God would never do something harmful or hurtful to humans.
"God didn't cause your car wreck, God doesn't cause car wrecks."
"God didn't cause your breakup, God is not a God of breakups."
"God didn't take your mom's life, the enemy did."
Those were all statements I heard uttered from godly, intelligent people who felt the need to protect God's character. While I can appreciate their efforts, I wonder if their poor theology led to greater hurt in the end when the God they attempted to defend turned out to be the kind of God who does in fact cause pain. Notice, I did not say "allows for pain," I straight up said, "causes pain."
At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Exodus 12.29
Who!? The Lord struck down children due to the pride, negligence and wickedness of their parents. Now you're uncomfortable. It's okay, I used to be, too.
A big part of my testimony includes a period of time when I struggled to believe that God was good. Like Jacob outside of the Jabbok, I wrestled with God. Crazily, it was not the stuff I saw in this broken world that made me question God's goodness; instead, I read His word and felt the twinge of antagonism. I will tell you how I got over that struggle in another post at another time. For now, we have to deal with a God who causes pain.
So what? Does a good God cause pain? Maybe. How you answer that question depends upon what you place your highest value. If comfort and health triumph over holiness, then yes, God must give an account for His behavior. However, if holiness, Christlikeness, and a relentless pursuit of God's glory constitute your first fruits, then a good God will use whatever means necessary to bring them about. Even pain and sometimes even death (reference Calvary if you don't believe me).
So, the next time you experience pain, before you shift blame away from God, maybe you should consider the reasons why God might be inviting you to suffer. He might just want to use it for your good and His glory.
3 comments:
Very well stated my friend. Often times, we give way too much credit for all the "bad" we see to Satan when, in fact, it is God doing work to bring about his purpose and glory in the world and in our lives. What is good for God and his glory may not be the same way in the which our peanut-sized finite minds see it. Thanks for the blog. It needs to be said and taught so we can see AND worship the true biblical God.
good word. thanks for writing this!
We're bringing Ravi Zecharias to campus in the fall to discuss "The Goodness of God and the Nature of Suffering." I think I'll share your post with some of our exec team members for the event. I think it's so true-- if we are in pursuit of holiness and view everything under the concept that Christ is making us more perfect, we will not oppose suffering because we know that it is leading to our sanctification. The heart of the understanding of suffering, I think, lies in understanding the heart of God; which is ultimately that he would be glorified when his people fall madly in love with him.
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