This is the single most unanswered question I think most people have when it comes to turning their life over to Jesus or continuing to walk alone. Two things to note here- 1. Most people still believe in some higher power or being, but they just can't say for sure it is God because of the experiences they have had in their life or what they have seen others close to them experience. Two, notice I said in the first sentence, "turn their life over to Jesus" and not simply believe. As we continue our journey together, I invite you to join me in learning the difference between belief or trying as my grandfather called it and walking in faith or doing.
In brief form for today let's answer the question- How can a God who is so good allow so much bad? This is not a quick and easy answer to understand in totality, but in short form the answer goes a little something like this: When God created the world, He created Adam and Eve out of his own image. That means, we are replications of Him. God created us to have free will- meaning a choice to love Him and a choice to do what He asked of us. Some people ask me why God would create Adam and Eve or humans in general with the ability to choose if He knew they were going to choose to do bad anyways? I'm not God, but what I can say here it if God had not given all of us a choice to love Him, to choose Him, then he might as well created stuffed animals. While I love my teddy bear from childhood she doesn't talk to me or really love me back in the same way my husband has the ability to choose to love me. Stay with me. I don't believe God wanted with His gigantic heart filled with LOVE for sin to enter the world, but deception overtook Eve. Deception is death. It was then and certainly is now. Lets keep going, enter sin and now here we are, a world full of temptation and here's that word again, #deception! Your eyes, my eyes, they simply don't see things the way God sees them. We only see snips of the full picture. Paul said in,
2 Corinthians 12: 7-10 7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing great revelations, there was given to me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest upon me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
What Paul pointed out here is that he understood his weakness- he needed Jesus, The Lord and Savior to continue on. The world had already fallen to deception; therefore hardships, persecutions, difficulties, BAD THINGS are going to happen but God can take all the difficulties you and I have and use His perfect power to create something for love. The question is, are you willing to #followHim?
We will talk more about this verse tomorrow. There's more to be said about some of the reasons why as humans, we need weakness, even though all we want is to escape.
May your weaknesses bring upon the grace and great power of The Almighty Lord. #BEWEAK&FOLLOWHIM
