Where Are You God?
Myth: God Controls Everything
Courtney was only four when a neighbor
found her feeding her two year old sister
from a bottle of sour milk.
With dirty faces streaked from tears,
in an apartment reeking from dirty diapers,
Courtney and her sister had survived alone--
for three whole days and nights!
Courtney's mother had decided to slip out the door
while her children were sleeping because taking care
of them was just "too much work."
Although she's grown up today,
Courtney has never forgotten
the horror of waking up alone.
No matter how many loving people
have come into her life,
she is still afraid that they too, will abandon her.
Each morning, millions of people wake up in pain.
From secret bruises to world headline disasters.
Whoever is in control of this planet
is obviously not doing a very good job.
There are people who claim that God is in control,
but when the innocent have been violated
and the unseen hand of God does nothing to stop it,
they cry out with the question,
"God, where are you?"
When Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray,
He seemed to indicate that God's will
is not being done on this earth yet.
Do you think Jesus would have prayed for
"God's will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven,"
if He believed God was completely in control?
So how did God lose control of this world?
It started a long, long time ago,
before our world was even created.
There was a war in heaven over God's character.
Satan, the leader of the rebellion,
argued that God's way of governing was unfair.
The result of this war was that Satan
deceived one third of the angels.
Because of Satan's lies, he and his angels
were sent down to this earth.
Although God allowed Satan
inside this beautiful new world,
He gave Satan no power over Adam and Eve.
Satan could only influence them
if they chose to trust Satan over God.
God put Adam and Eve in charge of the earth,
But He had one request for them;
that they stay away from one tree--the only place
where Satan could have access to them.
Despite God's warning,
Eve decided to check out the tree
When she saw a mesmerizing, talking snake.
Of course it was Satan speaking through the snake.
He convinced Eve to eat the fruit and offer some to Adam.
Because they choose to listen to Satan's advice
instead of obeying God,
Adam and Eve automatically forfeited the
management of this world over to Satan.
And that's how this disaster began.
As the temporary master of this world,
Satan continues to claim that his government of selfishness
is better than God's government of love.
In an attempt to discredit God,
Satan does all manner of cruelty
and convinces people to blame it on God.
When Jesus came and lived among us
to teach us what God is actually like,
Satan proved he is the master of deception
by inciting humans to kill Jesus--
the very one who gave them life and came to save them.
But when Jesus died,
He conquered both sin and death at the cross,
Guaranteeing that God's character of love
will ultimately win the war.
The war over God's character is still being fought
in people's minds today.
Satan's kingdom of selfishness continues
to cause pain, suffering and ultimately death.
God's kingdom of love is reaching out
to restore people to the loving image God
That we were created for
but Satan is still convincing people to blame God.
So where is God when we really need Him?
Because God grants freedom of choice
to both humans and angels,
there are some prayers that even God
has trouble answering the way that He would like.
God in His great love chooses to not violate freedom of choice.
Just as God did not stop Eve from eating the fruit,
or Satan from talking to the angels,
He does not stop people from making wrong choices today.
As long as Satan continues to trick humans
into making selfish choices,
this world will continue to be filled with pain.
Someday soon, Satan's evil experiment will be over.
People everywhere will have made their final choices.
Those who trust God will finally be safe
to live with each other for eternity with no more pain.
