Tough Questions - Does God Care?

The past few weeks have been tough. There have been shootings at Fort Hood where 13 people were killed and about 31 wounded. Shortly after that incident there was an office shooting in Florida where 1 person was killed and 5 people were wounded. The jobless rate in our country is at an all time high and more than likely, a lot of your parents have been affected by that. Swine flu continues to wreak havoc and there seems to be constant unrest in the middle east.

It might raise the question, "Does God Care?" Well we asked that question in a variety of different ways last night. The answer of course is "YES" God cares. As a matter of fact, God cares more than we do. But it doesn't always feel that way. Another way to phrase the question might be "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Last night I asked the question, "Why do good things happen to bad people?" Which I think is a fair question.

There was this guy named Henry Cavanaugh who had serious anger problems, to say the least. One day this ex con decided to mug an elderly lady, so he did. After mugging her, for a whoppin' $28, he hoofed it (that's Texanese for "he ran"). He ducked into a camera shop on a nearby street and was greeted by....cheers! You see Henry was the 1 millionth customer and had won 1million dollars! What tha heck? Are you serious? Instead of getting apprehended by authorities he became a millionaire. Not cool.

The crazy thing is that we are sort of in the same boat with Henry. We often like to lump ourselves in the "good person" category when the Bible has a different view of us. If you take a quick look at Romans 3:10-12, you'll see that man kind isn't really considered "good". BUT we still have a hard question to answer don't we? If God is good, how does He allow suffering?

This really is a tough question because I can't answer why certain things happen. Like I can't explain why a child gets cancer. I can't explain why certain people die way before "their time". What I do know is that God is good. 1 John 1:5 states that God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all. There is no trace of evil in God. 1 Peter 3:12 goes so far as to say that He is against anyone who participates in darkness. God hates evil!

So when something bad happens, God is grieved. When a school shooting takes place, God did not make it happen but allowed it because He allows us to make choices for good and for evil. I also know that God warns people who commit acts of evil that they will have to face Him. The example that I gave last night when we were talking about child abuse was from Matthew 18:5-7. Jesus warns His listeners that if anyone misleads one of his little ones, I realize that Jesus was talking about His disciples but it includes children, that it would be better for a millstone to be tied around their neck and thrown into the ocean. A millstone was a huge stone used for grinding grain so that is a pretty strong statement. God takes His children, both old and young, seriously! He loves them and wants the best for them more than we do.

So, that being said, God cares about you! He cares what happens to you! When we go through tough times, God can use the bad stuff to help us grow stronger in Him (Romans 5:3-5). He also promises us that when the waves of suffering hit us and knock us down (Psalm 69:1-3) that He is our anchor (Hebrews 6:19), He alone keeps us from being pushed around by the bad stuff that happens in our life. When we cling to Christ during times of suffering, He is there, even when it doesn't feel like it.

Matt Snellings

Junior High Pastor

Chase Oaks Church