This morning we’re going to build on a writing from before. It’s very fitting for what we have been talking about lately. With the struggles that serveral people that we know have been going through. It also goes hand-in-hand with a part of a movie that Barbara and I watched recently. In essence, people wonder why is it that God allows bad things to happen to good people. People wonder if he is in control, then why is it disasters take place. Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. Types of disasters that kill thousands upon thousands of people.
These are real thoughts people have. They are questions people have for God. And I bet if we’re honest, they are questions many of us have ACTUALLY asked God. Why this? Why that? It’s human nature to want to know why. I remember when the tornado hit Joplin, I was interviewing people who had been in the middle of it. One of them was a manager of a local store. Had people around him die. Another guy I interviewed lost his son. They were together on their way home from his son’s high school graduation. The young man was literally pulled out of the driver’s seat and died. During the interviews, I asked both of these individuals, “Where was God during the storm?” Actually, I asked this of everyone I interviewed. Their answers amazed me.
The store manager told me that it’s not our place to question that. Questioning death is not for us to do. God‘s plan will be revealed. If anything, he said it made him closer to God. One reason was he believed that he needed to seek God more often. Another reason was because, hundreds around him survived. The father’s answer was even more amazing. He told me that God was there and allowed him to hand his son over to him. Read that again! He allowed him to hand his son over to him. Very powerful. I have been asked, “If God is such a loving God, why did he paralyze you? Why hasn’t he healed you? Why does he let you struggle each day being paralyzed?” My answer is simple. He didn’t paralyze me. I did. My lifestyle did that. My decision that night did that. Our loving God kept me alive. And now, he uses me daily in this chair, more than he would have out of it. It’s in these questioning times that we have to stand on what the truth is about God. If we do so, we will be stronger on the other side of the struggles we go through. The tough times we go through. And let’s remember this as well: God loves us. He always has. He always will.
