Many people today don't believe in God. Others believe but don't understand the nature of God and the battle between good and evil. "How could God allow this to happen?" is a question I hear often. My answer is that there is evil in this world. And if you don't believe that, then just turn on the nightly news.
We cannot fully comprehend why God allows terrible things to happen to innocent people but it has been happening since the beginning of time.
We do know that good can come out of a bad situation. People make bad choices because we have free will and a sinful, uncontrolled nature. Now, I don't want to get too deep here, but bear with me.
Much of the bad stuff that happens in our world is a result of:
a) our poor choices or
b) someone else's poor choice.
If we were all born inherently perfect, as some philosophies claim, then we wouldn't have these bad things happen, now would we?
Remember Noah and the ark? Due to the sin of the people, God sent the great floods to wipe out humanity. All except one faithful family - Noah's. By the way, did you know there is a flood story in every major religion? Interesting, huh? But, I digress. The point is God got disgusted with the way things were going back then and decided to wipe almost everybody out.
Could it be that God is trying to get our attention once again?
Who turns to God when everything is going smoothly? It's usually only when the tough times hit that we run to God in tears. God sees what is going on in the world and I bet he's not too happy. What is it going to take for us to turn to God? How many more acts of violence and disasters have to happen before we cry out and say enough?
God sees the future and knows just what we need to go through in our lives to build our characters and make us stronger. God knows what it takes to get us out of our complacency. Setting things right takes action and effort. It also requires a changed mindset.
Look at World War 2 for example. The United States didn't want to get involved with what was going on in the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Hitler's aggressive and violent policies were murdering thousands of Jews. It was a wake-up call then and perhaps this streak of violence and natural disasters is another one to perhaps not only America but to the world in general. We cannot tolerate violence of any sort and action must be taken.
We may not understand at the time, but eventually we can look back and see good that has come from bad. I know this is true in my life, how about yours?
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Stay tuned for more practical and spiritual wisdom.Your thoughts are always welcome.
Until next time, keep looking up!
Ariel
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