Today in Sunday School we looked briefly at a passage where Christ denounces the cities where many of His works had been done. A rather odd conversation flowed from that; I still can't quite make sense of it. One person brought up that we always talk about how God is so loving, that it seems strange to see Him denouncing or reproaching these cities. This brought up the fact that God is both loving and merciful and just. These cities had apparently seen great works from Christ and yet had refused to heed His teachings or to repent. We know that God's will is that none should perish; but if they stubbornly refuse to submit to Him, His justness will then require from them the consequences of their choices. As the discussion chewed on similar points to this, another member of the class brought up a story about a minister whose wife and daughter had been killed in a horrible bus accident. The tragedy led him to leave the ministry. Whether or not he chose to leave his faith, I don't know. But the class member then demanded what would you say to a man in that situation; there was nothing you could say, she said. Platitudes and the like would mean nothing. We talked briefly about how God is sovereign, how we as humans do not always understand why some things are allowed to happen. What could anyone say to this man? Perhaps it is not our place to say anything, but to love him and to pray, and to trust that God would not let any of His disciples go uncared for. I understand that he recently died, never having returned to the ministry, but this doesn't tell me how his relationship with the Lord stood when he died. The lady who brought this story up said she didn't think God could have been punishing this man or his family by allowing such a thing to happen. Are you following all of this? Because I didn't, quite. I still don't know how all the pieces fit together or why the conversation took the turns it did.
What does it still have to do with Deuteronomy? Maybe nothing, but I couldn't get it out of my head as I did my reading today; in fact, I had difficulty concentrating on Moses' song of praise to be able to do so.
Here are some things I know:
God is just. Absolutely. He is holy, divine, and sovereign. His holiness demands that sin be dealt with; it must be paid for. He is willing to forgive if you accept His gift of grace through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He will hand out justice if you refuse to accept it.
God does love us. He would not have offered us salvation through His son; He would not have provided such a painful and difficult sacrifice to completely cover our sin if He didn't. He doesn't have to offer us anything; but He does because He loves us.
There are consequences to our sin. That much is clear: Deuteronomy speaks to it again and again and again. Even here in Moses' song he talks about God spurning Israel because of their idolatry. Consequences are there. They are not always catastrophic as in death and dismemberment, but they can be. More often they are what we tend to think as "smaller": losing someone's trust because we lied or cheated; losing an entire relationship because we were unfaithful; damaging our relationship with God because we were disobedient or a lack of faith. Is it to punish us? Hurt us? Revenge on us? No, it is discipline; God disciplines His people to bring them back to him. Just as a parent disciplines their children to teach them and guard them, God disciplines us. Deuteronomy 30 is an excellent example of this: where God promises to bring His people back to them and into relationship with them.
Not everything bad that happens is punishment or consequence to sin. Sometimes horrible things happen and we don't know why. We don't understand God's sovereignty in it. We don't understand the "why's", and let's face it: we're not always given the opportunity to. (God never explained Himself to Job; only Job was taught that God is almighty and that we have no understanding or place to question Him.) But I do know we are given promises with suffering: Romans 5:1-11, 8:26-38; James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:3-9; 1 Peter 4:12. We know that we have a High Priest in Jesus who understands our trials and sufferings (Hebrews 2:14-18, 4:14-16): consider the suffering He himself experienced at the cross, not just death but torture, abandonment, humiliation...
I do not pretend to have all the answers. I don't pretend to have understood what everyone was saying in Sunday School, to know the intent of their comments or to penetrate what was at the heart of the discussion. But these things have been on my mind. I have experienced trials. Nothing like what that minister did, and nothing like many others who have lost their families in horrific and senseless ways who did not turn away from ministry or from the Lord. I cannot pretend to judge them; I'm not perfect, I have not walked in their shoes. But I'm not unfamiliar with difficulties, trials, and tests. And I know they have a purpose and a season. I don't always know what. But I know the truth of God's character, that He does rebuke, He does love, He does forgive, that He is just in all His ways, from His Word. And I know it is up to me and my faith to follow Him. I like comfort. I like peace and safety. I do not welcome trials as I should. It is always my prayer that when they come that I will be able to face them with grace and faith. And that I might help others to do the same, if I can.
If you've made it to the end of this post, thanks for letting me ramble. A good blogger would polish it up and make it make sense, put it in a nice little package, and maybe I'll come back and do that. But for now, I'm going to let it hang out there. Let me just say: I don't know all the answers. But God's Scripture does. Seek it out. Seek Him. He answered Job, after all.
Tomorrow's Reading: Deuteronomy 32:48-34:12, the last of Deuteronomy and the last of the Books of the Law
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