Regular readers have probably noticed I've not posted any articles on my blog for the past several days. I was supposed to be gone on vacation. Unfortunately, due to several factors which included a kidney stone that decided to move on the first day, I didn't get to go anywhere. I ended up canceling the vacation but decided to go ahead with my plan to not write on the blog for the days I was supposed to be away.
It turned out to be quite a week with many things that could have been addressed. The church shooting in Charleston, the resignation of Tullian Tchividjian after his confession of an affair, and the SCOTUS ruling that makes same sex marriage legal in all 50 states would have likely been addressed if I had been blogging this past week.
As I've considered what to say about these events now that I'm back I decided to say very little. There has already been much written about each of them, and I'm sure that others will continue to write and discuss each of them. At this point, I don't think there is anything I could say that hasn't already been written, so I'm just going to say one thing and move on.
None of these events caught God by surprise. At no point this past week did God ever once look at what was occurring and shake his head in amazement. I'm sure some will ask that if God knew this young man was going to kill the people in the church why didn't God stop him? Why didn't God stop this young pastor from having the affair that forced him to resign from the pulpit at Coral Ridge Church? One atheist who supported the Supreme Court's decision on same sex marriage asked why, if God exists and is against such marriage, did he not answer the many prayers that Christians prayed that the court would not rule in favor of such marriages?
Quite honestly, I can't answer any of those questions and feel no reason to try. I guess if I could explain God's actions I would be God, and I'm not, and neither are you. What I do know is that God was not surprised by any of these events. I also know that he is still God, and in the end his decision on each of these events will be the only one that matters.
As we study the Bible we often find that the times were the darkest just before God turned things around. We see that scenario played out time and time again in the life of Israel in the Old Testament and even more in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
That Friday when Jesus died on the cross was the darkest day this world has ever known. No doubt, the demons of hell celebrated the death of the Son of God. Those who had followed Jesus must have felt that the world was coming to an end. What no one realized was that it was only Friday. Sunday was coming. When Sunday morning dawned the stone was rolled away, and the world hasn't been the same since.
No, the events of the past few days did not catch God by surprise, and Jesus is still alive. The church is not to give up hope. We are not to hide behind locked doors. We have work to do. God's will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven so let each of us be about our Father's business.
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