In response to my last post...

There were some comments about my last post that I wanted to address and try and clarify a little more about what I said. Thanks for taking to the time to read my blog. My heart breaks for those suffering from all that is going on over there. It is tragic and I can't imagine being there and seeing the destruction, pain, and hurt all around. I was trying to gain a biblical understanding of the world, which I don't think is opposed to science. Here is why...

The God that I believe in has set up the universe in a certain way, and usually works within that framework (including the shifting of the earth's plates which account for earthquakes and tsunami's as well as the formation of continents, mountains, canyons, etc). He may circumvent the natural order at times, but that doesn't usually seem to be the case. I don't have any reason to believe that the recent earthquake and tsunami are an exception, so we should try to understand how these things happen, seeking the best explanations we can find (including putting the best researchers and thinkers on the case). When there is rain, I expect to see rain clouds.

 

I think all tragedy and pain are consequences of living in a broken world. I don't presume to know the mind of God about these situations, and my apologies if you thought I was saying that the disaster was God's indictment on Japan. That wasn't what I wanted to communicate. But I do think the God who created and set the world in order is powerful. He loves His people and wants to be in relationship with us. I'm sure we don't see eye to eye on these things and that is ok, but thanks for reading. I appreciate constructive dialogue.

Tragedy: Floods, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, etc.

Tragedy is one of the hardest things to understand, whether it's murder, bombing, an earthquake, etc. We always wonder why God would allow something like that to happen to people. People often get confused because they hear how much God loves his people and all Jesus has done for us through His death on the cross, and then global and local tragedies occur that shake up our minds. As I am watching the news this morning and hearing all about the Tsunami around the globe these things came to mind.

I am not in any way saying that questioning God is a bad thing. Through questioning and digging deeper is when we begin to understand Him more. Neither am I saying you shouldn't be mourning your loss or confused why God might allow this happen. I am simply trying to provide some insight to those of you who might have these thoughts. There are a couple responses I have to this...

1. God is God and He can do as He wants
(Psalm 7:11) "God is a righteous judge, a God who displays His wrath every day."
(Jeremiah 10:10) "But the Lord is the true God; He is the Living God, the Eternal King. When He is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure His wrath."

God may just be angry towards a nation or people, and decide to pour out His wrath on them. He is God and is all-knowing and has dominion over everything. Therefore, He can do as He sees best. I know this may seem a little blunt and harsh, but it's truth and necessary to understand.

2. God is a jealous God
The Lord calls Himself a jealous God and describes Himself as jealous many times throughout scripture, here are some of them.
(Exodus 34:14) "Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, who name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
(Deuteronomy 4:24) "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."
(Deuteronomy 32:16) "They made Him jealous with their foreign gods and angered Him with their detestable idols."
(Nahum 1:2) "The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on His foes and vents His wrath against His enemies."

In these verses we see that God is jealous. In our culture today, jealousy is most of the time seen as a bad thing, causing fights and pain in relationships. Here, jealousy is a beautiful thing. God cares for us so much that He is jealous for His people. He desires communion and relationship with each of us so much that it greatly angers Him when we become His enemy or act like an enemy. Think about a time growing up or even recently where you were so jealous of someone for having the coolest car or boyfriend/girlfriend. Jealousy has such a strong pull on our actions. Now translate that to what is said above. God acts jealous toward us when we chose things over Him. How cool is it that the God of the universe cares so much that we have an intimate and honoring relationship with Him?

3. My last point is that if all things were perfect, then we wouldn't need God. If there was nothing that caused us to need and depend solely on the Lord, then we wouldn't need a God to depend on. A hard part of this life is understanding that we will go through times of trial and tribulation, but we must understand that we have a jealous God who is there for us every time we need Him. He is there no matter what we have done or what is going on around us. God is there, God is here among us.

My prayers go out to those suffering from this tragedy this morning and to those who may still be effected throughout the day.

I'm a lot like the Israelites.

The Israelites said, "Why didn't God let us die in comfort on Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the break we could eat? You've brought us out into this wilderness to starve us to death, the whole company of Israel!" Exodus 16:3 (The Message)

While reading this passage last night, I felt like I am most like the Israelites at times. I question God about where he has placed me and the "wilderness" I think I am in, when really he has placed me in that wilderness to strengthen me and mold me more into His image. Many times I think that if God could have just left me in the comfort of childhood when everything was taken care for me, or given me enough money to pay all the bills on time and buy the car, house, and other material needs then I would be happy. All the Israelites were asking for here was lamb stew and endless bread. They wanted to trade the plan that God designed for their life, to take them through the wilderness to make it to the Promised Land - a land flowing with milk and honey, for a minor worldly pleasure... food. I can see evidences of this in my life as well. I think that if I have certain material possessions or the best food, then I will be happy and ultimately successful. These things will only give me finite pleasure and will not satisfy me forever, but only for the short-term. Christ has designed a plan for each of our lives that leads us through the wilderness (oppression, sadness, sickness, etc.) and takes us to the Promised Land for eternity with Him.

God will test us along the way to make sure we trust Him through the wilderness. In Exodus 16:4 (The Message), God says, "I'm going to test them to see if they'll live according to my Teaching or not." This is evidence that he is with us, always. He will test us through the hard times (which the hard times might be part of the test), to again strengthen us and make us more like Him. Our response might be like the Israelites, and moan and groan about these worldly things we desire, but we must trust that He will provide everything that we need to get through the day and onward to our Promised Land.

Too many passwords.

I really liked Wordpress, but was unable to login to the blog I had created so I am going to switch to blogger. I already use google for email so there should be no way I can forget this password ha. I was automatically logged in on my computer for awhile, but one day I tried to get on and I had to sign in and didn't know my password. Long story short amongst a few weeks and emails, Wordpress cannot give me my password and only the password retrieval system can (which is not working). Therefore, I didn't want to create another blog through them so I'll give blogger a shot.

Do you ever feel like you have way too many passwords and usernames to remember? I feel like I need to take time to write them all down or get some app on my phone or computer where they all can be in the same place. I can think of 5 different passwords and a few usernames I have all up in my head right now.

Anyways, hope you all have a great weekend and Valentine's Day! I am excited for out date night tonight to Boylan Bridge Brewpub. We have been wanting to go there for awhile and have a coupon via Living Social for money towards food and a sampler of their homemade beers :)

If want to access any previous posts you can see them here: http://adamkingsmore.wordpress.com/