God and Evil (part 2 of Why? series)
Why doesn’t God protect believers from evil?
A better question is if I am a good Christian and I have faith and follow Christ will God protect me?
The answer is He might or He might not.
Well, If God is not going to protect us – then what good is He?
First of all, we learned last week that God never promised to protect us.
In Matthew 6 Jesus taught his disciples and us how to pray.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Jesus didn’t teach them to pray, “but protect us from the evil one.”
Jesus knows we are going to be tempted. Jesus knows that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. (I John 5:19)
You might be a good Christian who diligently follows Christ but not everybody on this planet follows Christ. There are people on this earth who are intent on doing evil things and destroying lives.
Just this past week a two-year old in Marion, Arianna Carmack, was left to die.
If God can’t even protect little children – then what good is He?
The answer is that He’s still good.
This may be difficult to hear but our safety and the safety of our kids are not part of the deal no matter how devout a Christian you are. Evil doesn’t care about the age, the color of skin, religion or whether you are rich or poor. Evil’s intent is to destroy people.
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want any kid to be harmed. But the reality is I can’t keep my children from being harmed. I could keep them locked up in their room. I could keep them from driving. I could keep them from having friends. I can put every necessary precaution in place but I still can’t protect them from Evil. That doesn’t stop me from hoping and praying that God would protect them from Evil. But just because I pray it doesn’t mean he will protect them. All the scriptures teach me is that He might or He might not protect them.
This is when I have to ask the even tougher questions of the faith.
- Will I still follow Him if he doesn’t protect my family from evil?
- Is my faith in God based on how well God protects my family?
- Is my faith in God based on what He can do for me?
- Is my faith based on how safe God keeps me and my family?
- Do I trust that God loves the people I love more than I could ever love them?
The Evil one, too, knows that we love our families. In looking at Job last week, the Devil was convinced that Job would give up following God if his family was destroyed. After all of his kids were wiped out – we learned that he fell down and worshipped God.
- The Enemy knew Job loved his kids.
- I am confident that Job loved his kids.
If you continue on and read the story you will hear his pain. Job didn’t live in denial. In fact he wanted God to take his life. So the pain was real. He had been dealt a severe blow. But he never stopped worshipping God.
- Job had to answer some tough questions.
- Do I love my family more than God?
- Do I love my wealth more than God?
- Do I love my health more than God?
In return, these are God’s honest questions to us.
- Do I love Him more than my family?
- Do I love Him more than material things?
- Do I love Him more than good health?
A turning point in my life came about my 5th year of doing paid full-time ministry.
Spiritually I was struggling.
I wasn’t a very good dad.
I wasn’t a very good husband.
I wasn’t a very good pastor.
I was basically in a spiritual black hole. Not knowing how to get out. There was nothing my wife could do. There was nothing my kids could do. There was nothing my church could do. I did the thing I knew how to do – I locked myself in a little room that was completely dark. I sang songs. I prayed. I sang a few more songs and I prayed. I kept asking God what is wrong with me? Then I would sit and listen. They I would sing songs and pray. Then out of nowhere I heard the question, “do you trust your heavenly Father more than your earthly father?” (My dad had been dead for about 8 years). I wrestled with that question for a couple of hours – I came to the conclusion – yes I did trust my earthly father more than my heavenly Father. God help me see that I had made my father an idol. Once I agreed with God that my father was an idol, I began to worship again.
I share this story to make the point that God did not protect me but he did deliver me.
God is not going to stop evil from happening to us.
What good is God if he is not going to stop evil from happening to us?
The answer: He is still good whether He stops evil or not.
And even better question is if God loves me so much why doesn’t He stop the evil from happening to me?
In C.S. Lewis book – The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe – the line in the book and they put in the movie as well – Susan asks the beaver if Aslan (which represents God) is safe. The beaver responds, “no, he is not safe but he is good.”
Following Christ does not guarantee our safety or the safety of those we know and love, but He is good.
Like Job – When evil is happening around and to us we can draw close to Him and call on Him.
Why can we do that?
- Because He is good.
- Because He is faithful.
- Because we know His plan is not to harm but to give us a hope and a future.
- Because He promises never to leave or forsake us.
- Because He promises to provide a way of escape.
If you look at the history of mankind- Evil has been happening to those who love God since evil was introduced to the world.
Look at the story of Joseph
- His brothers were jealous of him.
- They had planned to kill him
- Instead they threw him in a cistern and sold him as a slave.
- He was accused of raped
- Thrown in prison for several years for not doing anything.
God didn’t stop any of these things from happening to Joseph. All of these things were done with evil intent. All of those things were done to destroy his life and his career. But Joseph stayed faithful. He never stopped loving God. He never stopped serving God. He never stopped worshipping God. Despite all the evil things that were happening to Him – what the Enemy intended for harm God turned it into something good. I am convinced it is because he never gave up on God.
If you look through the scriptures (OT and NT)- none of his followers gave up despite the evil that was happening to them.
And Jesus gives us the Ultimate example.
- The world of was jealous of him
- They planned to kill him
- They accused him of wrong doing
- They killed him
God turned the greatest evil act against a human being and turned it into the greatest triumph the world has ever seen.
Which leads me to believe that God is not concerned with keeping us safe from Evil.
- He says to love our enemies – how safe is that?
- He says to love those who persecute you – how safe it that?
- He says to go into all the world and make disciples – how safe is that?
This world is not a safe place to live and there is nothing good about it.
- He alone is good
- He alone is Father.
- He alone is our refuge
- He alone sees the bigger picture.
His concern is whether we trust Him or not?
Will we still trust Him even when the things around us are dark?
Will we still follow Him when things get tough?
Will we still follow Him even when the why questions cannot be answered?
Only He alone can turn evil into goodness
Only He alone can do something that was intended to harm you to help you.
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