The Pastor's Page - 4/9/09
A Difficult Hope
One of the things which we know from experience and from the Scriptures themselves is that we are not immune from heartache. Virtually all Christians would agree with that assertion. What we cannot find an agreement on is why we find ourselves in such predicaments and who is ultimately responsible for it. Two of the most predominant views are that, one, we are somehow responsible through using the wrong words, of having had imperfect ancestors, or because of some sin in our life. The second predominant view is that the evil and destructive work was done by the devil and God was not responsible. God as a good God would never cause or allow such a thing to happen. It is this second view which we focus on here.
The question in all such assertions is “Where was God?” The Bible is clear that God is Sovereign and that nothing occurs without His knowledge and in at least some cases His implicit permission. Job’s trial is an example of the second. Some have rejected or reordered Job’s story in the extreme to keep from dealing with this difficult issue. Such efforts are in vain because real heartache afflicts God’s people all the time without explanation or visible cause. We are offered no hope by asserting that God was either unaware of the impending heartache, or was unable to do anything to prevent it.
And that brings us to our title, A Difficult Hope. I call it that because it is a hope that is as real and certain as God’s Word itself, but it is difficult to grasp or welcome. It lays out like this; Either,
A) God is in total and complete control of every event both good and bad in my life and has a good purpose which He chooses not to reveal or explain at present, or
B) God is not in control.
As I have told our congregation if I believed the second option I wouldn’t even get out of bed in the morning. Only by embracing option A can we have any hope of enduring bad times and making sense out of life. The difficulty comes in that we cannot possibly understand the mysterious workings of God, the whys of our anger and confusion. But the hope comes in knowing that even in the worse cases God is somehow working for my good.
There is no hope at all in option B and I pray that you can agree with me that A Difficult Hope is better than no hope at all.
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