This question is
probably one of the oldest challenges to religion. It used to scare and
intimidate me; however, I have grown to almost enjoy answering this question.
It is a question that springs up all throughout the Bible as well. It entails
the questioning of why suffering, death, murder, rape, and all the other evil
things in our world occur.
I'm going to take
you back to the time of the Judges of Israel. This is before King David, King
Saul, Jesus, and even Jerusalem. The people of Israel were just beginning to
put their roots in the promised land. However, there was a problem; the
Israelites used to be faithful and follow only one God, but this all began to
change. They started following numerous other gods like Baal and Molech. They
forgot how their God delivered them from Egypt and their other enemies. Pretty
soon, Israel started to get attacked and the country was constantly under
siege. In one point of history, they were hiding in caves and farming in the
dark because when ever they had a harvest, their enemies would kill them and
steal all of it. Consequently, poverty and sickness ran rampant in the
Israelite camp. The people were hurting so bad that God decided to step in…
This is when he
approaches a man Named Gideon. When Gideon found out who it was (after this
angel figure told him) the first question he asked was "If God is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all
the miracles and wonders our parents and grandparents told us about, telling us
'Didn't God deliver us from Egypt?' The Fact is, God has nothing to do with
us…"
This is a great
question that people have. You might have this question as well. If God is so
great and mighty why does all this suffering happen around us? I mean where is
he when kids are dying and people are starving? To the people with this
question, I hate to say it but you might not get the response your looking for.
Gideon didn't. Gideon did not get an apology or even a good reason. On the
contrary God told him an answer that he was probally not expecting to hear. God
told him that He(Gideon) was going to
fix things. God was going to give him the power to change the fate of the
world.
That leaves us with
this final point. God doesn't have to explain himself away. Yes there is
suffering, hurting, death, poverty, pain, sickness, etc. Yes children die of
starvation and malnutrition almost every minute. There are young girls that are
sold into sex slaves. Asking about what
is God doing is the wrong
question. You should ask about what YOU are
doing. We are God's hands and feet. HE uses us to spread his love an joy. Our
purpose is meant to stop all this suffering and heart ache. The real question
then is this "Are you doing anything about
all this evil in the world?"
My challenge is to
find a cause on your heart and fight for it. Gideon's heart was for his people
that were suffering. He changed all that. What is the thing that you see that
needs to be changed. Stop sitting around and do something. God has given you the
power and ability to do just that.
Lol I did not
realize how long this devotion was. I hope you got through it all and it challenged you. All this comes from mostly Judges chapter 6
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