Thought for Today
Genesis 1:6 And God said, "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." 7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.
Genesis 2:7 then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.
John 1:3 all things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
As the death toll in Kerr County Texas and the surrounding counties continues to mount, I cannot help but ponder that most-often asked prayer, “Why, Lord?” God breathed the breath into the human God formed. Yet, the same God created a world where death is the inevitable result of all life. The same God created the geographical, geological and meteorological conditions which resulted in the terribly destructive flooding in south-central Texas. “Why, Lord?”
Ironically, the theme in my These Days devotional this week is “Lord, Hear My Prayers.” Certainly, the Lord hearing all of those prayers right now is the same Lord of John 3:16. The Lord hearing those prayers is the God who loved God’s own Creation so much he sent his only Son to save that same Creation. Right now, I am smack-up against the dilemma first expounded to me in seminary, the Leibnitzian Dilemma. My Systematic Theology professor summarized it as “You cannot reconcile the existence of an omnipotent God, a loving God and the existence of evil.”
As I confront the heartbreaking stories in the news reports of lost spouses, lost children and devasted lives, like so many other Christians, I cannot help but pray, “Why, Lord?” I know that God hears my prayers. The devotional in These Days this morning, written long before this current event, begins “Jesus prayed. He prayed alone and in public, in the morning and at mealtime, as part of healing miracles and before big decisions. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and Jesus prayed as he hung dying on the cross.”
Christians do not always reside in the valleys of life. But, like all of God’s children, we do experience those valleys. We know the words of David in the 23rd Psalm, “4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (KJV),” just as Jesus himself surely knew those words as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus understood the reality that all of us must, at times, walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
Now, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, Jesus does hear all of those prayers of sorrow, prayers of grief, and prayers of compassion being offered for those lives lost in Texas, for those livelihoods destroyed. Equally, Jesus and God hear all those prayers being offered all around the world for lives lost and livelihoods destroyed. Surely, they both grieve along with all those offering the prayers as Jesus the Son and God the Father welcome all of those souls into eternity.
I still do not understand. As Paul wrote, “1 Corinthians 13:12 now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” Will I fully understand when I enter into eternity? Will I then know the answer to “Why, Lord?”? I do not now know. What I do know is the truth of all those beloved scriptures in our Bible. I do know the comfort David expressed in the 23rd Psalm. I do know that “23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” I do not want for support and comfort in my own grief. I do not want for the comfort, love and support from my family of faith. And I do remember those words of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden, "Matthew 26:39 My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want."
Leibnitz was correct. I cannot reconcile my certain knowledge of God’s love with the devastation in the Texas Hill Country and elsewhere. I am still seeing in that dim mirror. But I know that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for me, that he will come again to take there to be with him in eternity. And, I know that God will wipe every tear from all our eyes. “Revelation 21:4 Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."
Stay safe, pray for all of God’s children, trust God,
Pastor Ray