Why do some people cry and other people yell when they hit their thumb with a hammer?
Why do I always find one more dirty glass after I’ve drained the dishwater?
Some days little questions wiggle around in my brain. Other times big ones keep me awake at night.
Why does God allow bad candidates to win elections?
Why do children suffer?
Why do evil people prosper while good ones struggle?
These are hard questions with no simple answers this side of heaven. I know sin is at the root of everything bad, and it’s been dragging its poison tentacles across the tender flesh of our world for millennia. Death, sin’s constant companion, has linked arms, and the pair goosesteps its way through time. Disease, destruction, and despair, like ugly triplets, ambush victims, leaving them battered and bewildered.
But there is truth that gives me hope: Paul, in Romans 8, says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Then he explains what we are experiencing: “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (v. 20).
This is what believers in Jesus Christ have to look forward to—liberation from decay and glorious freedom.
Paul describes our predicament: “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Ah, the hope of redemption, the full rights of an adopted child, the sinless perfection of eternity.
“For in this hope we (are) saved.”
I don’t know why bananas make your teeth feel sticky or why I always find one more dirty glass after I’ve drained the dishwater. I don’t know why bad candidates win elections or why children suffer. But I do know one day God will right every wrong and heal every hurt. He’ll throw death and hell into the Lake of Fire along with Satan and his angels. He’ll wipe every tear from our eyes, and we’ll never hurt or grieve again.
On big question days, there’s a whole lot of comfort in this.
What about you? What gives you comfort on days when life’s questions seem overwhelming? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts. If you’re reading by email, click here to visit Hungry for God online, scroll down to the bottom of the post, and leave your comment.
Cost is $35, which includes lunch, a t-shirt, and a copy of my book, Hungry for God…Starving for Time. For more information and to register (discount registration deadline August 10), contact Kathy Shaffer at flokat1990@gmail.com.
I take comfort knowing that God is in control and that He has a plan. I may not understand His plan, but He does have one, and no one can thwart it. I find that comforting.
ReplyDeleteBut here's another question to keep you awake at night: why do Waffle Houses have locks on their doors? They're always open, so they never need to lock them. :)
HaHaHaHaHa. Thanks, Nikki, I needed that :)
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