By Pastor Bill Gaube
One day my neighbor complained to me that God doesn’t do a very good job of running His world. His mother had just passed away unexpectedly and he was upset. A lot of us can identify with his feelings. We pray about something, trust God for it and then everything seems to fall apart. What is going on here!?!
The Bible is full of examples of people being upset with God. Take Job for example. He lived a good life, honored God in every way and what did it get him? He lost his children, material possessions and found himself on a trash heap covered with sores with his wife nagging him to curse God and die. Now we know the rest of the story – how Satan was really after Job, but remember Job didn’t know.
Then there is Moses. He got fed up with the stubborn people that God gave him to lead. But God had a purpose He was working out for his people and Moses was only one piece of the puzzle. The Apostle Paul did many miracles through God’s power. Yet when Paul asked God to heal him, God didn’t. God did not tell Paul why, but told him that His grace would be enough for Paul.
So what do we do with these puzzling situations? Awhile back I read something that sheds some light on this dilemma. “To travel the path of faith successfully we must learn that we do not live by God’s explanation but by His character.” In each of our illustrations God was teaching something about Himself – His transcendence, holiness, greatness, power, wisdom, purpose, faithfulness, patience etc. But the most important characteristic is that God is good.
I have a friend who had a illness that almost killed him. He got through it partly by saying “God is in this and God is good.” Now he can see a lot of the good that has come of it. But he also admits it would have been easier if he could have seen it all then. But in a way he did – He saw it by faith in the character of God.
I pray that all of us can stop in the midst of our problems and remember there is more going on than we can see. God may not show us the answers now, but we can rest in the fact that He is good.
