Monday, February 15, 2016
483 - Why God? Why?
Spirituality Column #483
February 16, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Why God? Why?
By Bob Walters
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”–God to Isaiah, Isaiah 55:9
“Everybody’s ignorant, only on different subjects.” – Will Rogers
“Sometimes I guess there just aren’t enough rocks.” – Forrest Gump
One can survey contemporary cultural, political, academic, philosophical and social norms and with some justification ask, literally, “What the hell is going on?”
It takes a Christian worldview to ask that question properly. I believe in a loving God above, Jesus Christ in our hearts, the Holy Spirit glowing in our souls, and Satan everywhere in our midst confusing, conniving, condemning, conspiring and often confounding the heavenly salvation that the Father, Son and Spirit have in store for us.
Satan meanwhile aggressively and consistently proffers hell – salvation’s opposite, the fiery death below instead of the glorious life above. Here on earth Satan runs rampant with his vicious lordship, hell routinely breaking out all over. History records and society continues to champion and dubiously reflect Satan’s agenda.
Not to ruin the ending, but Satan’s demise and the final victory of Christ and heaven are clearly described in the Bible’s book of Revelation.
That’s fine for the macrocosmic “otherness” of all Creation moaning amid man’s fallenness, awaiting God’s eternal destiny and unimaginable glory. But microcosmically, personally and urgently we implore: “What about NOW, Lord? What about ME???” The Cosmos truly is too big for most of us to meld into a cogent, personal, compartmentalized concern. But “My Life” problems are personally felt and comprehended. We ask God, most sincerely, “Why?”
And we wait.
It’s sad, but in a way funny, how folks just naturally seem to have a more coherent, patient, conversational and less condemning relationship with Satan than with God. Satan gets a pass while we shout at God for answers, plea for deliverance and demand immediate, personal evidence of His goodness. God plainly is telling Isaiah that when we earnestly ask “Why?” God says, “You wouldn’t understand the answer.”
Boy, do humans hate that.
Fact is, humanity needs a bigger question than “Why?” and one is not forthcoming. No matter how smart or ignorant we are on any given topic, humanity can’t seem to come up with a question that beats “Why?” But even as that question falls short, God nonetheless provides scriptural truth that we are wise to find sufficient:
“Trust me; love my Son Jesus, love one another, forgive your enemies.”
We either find peace, comfort and satisfaction in that, or pick up another rock to hurl at what we perceive to be God’s injustice.
Careful, though. Satan is never more than a stone’s throw away.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) avoids inhabiting glass houses.
February 16, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Why God? Why?
By Bob Walters
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”–God to Isaiah, Isaiah 55:9
“Everybody’s ignorant, only on different subjects.” – Will Rogers
“Sometimes I guess there just aren’t enough rocks.” – Forrest Gump
One can survey contemporary cultural, political, academic, philosophical and social norms and with some justification ask, literally, “What the hell is going on?”
It takes a Christian worldview to ask that question properly. I believe in a loving God above, Jesus Christ in our hearts, the Holy Spirit glowing in our souls, and Satan everywhere in our midst confusing, conniving, condemning, conspiring and often confounding the heavenly salvation that the Father, Son and Spirit have in store for us.
Satan meanwhile aggressively and consistently proffers hell – salvation’s opposite, the fiery death below instead of the glorious life above. Here on earth Satan runs rampant with his vicious lordship, hell routinely breaking out all over. History records and society continues to champion and dubiously reflect Satan’s agenda.
Not to ruin the ending, but Satan’s demise and the final victory of Christ and heaven are clearly described in the Bible’s book of Revelation.
That’s fine for the macrocosmic “otherness” of all Creation moaning amid man’s fallenness, awaiting God’s eternal destiny and unimaginable glory. But microcosmically, personally and urgently we implore: “What about NOW, Lord? What about ME???” The Cosmos truly is too big for most of us to meld into a cogent, personal, compartmentalized concern. But “My Life” problems are personally felt and comprehended. We ask God, most sincerely, “Why?”
And we wait.
It’s sad, but in a way funny, how folks just naturally seem to have a more coherent, patient, conversational and less condemning relationship with Satan than with God. Satan gets a pass while we shout at God for answers, plea for deliverance and demand immediate, personal evidence of His goodness. God plainly is telling Isaiah that when we earnestly ask “Why?” God says, “You wouldn’t understand the answer.”
Boy, do humans hate that.
Fact is, humanity needs a bigger question than “Why?” and one is not forthcoming. No matter how smart or ignorant we are on any given topic, humanity can’t seem to come up with a question that beats “Why?” But even as that question falls short, God nonetheless provides scriptural truth that we are wise to find sufficient:
“Trust me; love my Son Jesus, love one another, forgive your enemies.”
We either find peace, comfort and satisfaction in that, or pick up another rock to hurl at what we perceive to be God’s injustice.
Careful, though. Satan is never more than a stone’s throw away.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) avoids inhabiting glass houses.
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