Why?



A rather poor-quality photo, taken with my mobile phone on a whim from my truck window while stopped at a traffic light. God constantly reminds me of the awesome things He and He alone can do.



 

"The secret things belong to the LORD our God ..."

 ~Deuteronomy 29:29

How could God allow a deranged madman to end the lives of 20 innocent children in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, December 14, 2012?

I don't know.

 

Why does He permit evil to thrive in our world?

I don't know.

 

What would make Him wish to call 20 precious children home, to His side, leaving behind countless grief-stricken families?

I don't know.

 

I do know one thing I can count on for certain: Ultimately, one distant day, I will be given the answers, and I will understand.

'Til then, my faith has to be strong enough to endure the heartaches of this world, reminding me to rely on the promises of He who created me:

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.

~1 Corinthians 4:5 

On those things, I can surely count. HE is in charge, not me.

 

Jesus was brutally honest and straightforward when He told us in John 16:33, “You will have suffering in this world.” He didn’t suggest it was a possibility … He affirmed that it is going to happen.

By virtue of mankind’s free will, evil and wickedness are rampant in our world. They are facts of life. God didn’t create them. They are the result of the downfall of man, way back when in the Garden. We humans introduced horror into God’s then-perfect world. And sadly, we still have to live with the consequences of man’s choices.

 

God can and will use our suffering and our hurt and our anguish to draw us closer to Him. He longs for us to embrace him, as a child seeking comfort from a parent. He wishes deeply to ease our pain and our agony.

There will come a day in the history of our world where evil and pain and agony and horror will be destroyed, vanquished, and dismissed. But … we’re not there yet.

 

So, in the meantime, we are surrounded by the unthinkable. Unspeakable horrors and atrocities are committed, for reasons we simply cannot comprehend with our human minds.

And it is in this state that we simply must rely on our faith to sustain us.

 

I do not know how God intends to use the wickedness in Newtown to impact the world, but I am confident … I will stake my life on this … that He will ultimately use it for His purposes. For all I know, He is using it right at this very moment, speaking to you the promise of His future kingdom and the place He will save just for you. You can take the pain at the very depths of your soul and replace it with hope and assurance. Right now, right where you sit, reading this.

I know my future, and I know exactly where those 20 little children are at this very instant: at the very feet of God Almighty. If you’d like the same assurance, pray (or ask someone to pray with you) and ask Jesus to give you a sense of peace and calm regarding this horrific tragedy. He will do it, right now, I promise.

 

Paul wrote in 2^nd Corinthians that he “saw” things only as a reflection in a mirror, but that one glorious day, he would see God face-to-face and receive the answers he sought. He realized that he knew only part of the equation of life here on earth, but that one day, he would know fully. He got it. He understood the promise of great things to come.

Do you get it?

 

Are you sure?

God is ready when you are.