WHY DID GOD ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN?
We look at many tragedies that take place and wonder, particularly when a Christian is a victim, why did God allow that to happen? In view of the catastrophe in the Philippines and other situations where Christians seem to have been caught in the cross-fire, I began to pray and the Lord told me, "The answer to your question is in My Word." So prayerfully, I studied the Word and God has provided me with some answers and thoughts I would like to share with you.
First I should say that since the sins of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden took place, we live in a cursed world where Satan has usurped and continues to try and usurp rule and authority. Although we are able to experience various measures of victory in this life...even a great measure... according to our faith in the Lord because of what Jesus accomplished through the cross, we have to contend for everything. For instance although there was once no sickness, people still get sick and die. We age faster and generally die sooner than those who lived closer to the period of man's creation largely because the curse of Adam and Eve, due to sin, has crept into and found a place in the genetics of modern mankind . We live in a sin riddled world of violence, war and wickedness that once did not exist. That will not cease until Christ's victory on the cross is totally manifested when Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire (Hell) for eternity at the end of this age. Until then, he still works against God's people.
Brothers and sisters, what I am telling you is nothing new. The Apostle Paul understood it and men of God in prior generations have too. Jesus said that Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. This is what Satan does. If he had no power or ability to do it, the fact that Jesus said he does it would not exist. Paul said that we must "put on the full armor of God so that we can stand against the wicked one and carry our shield of faith so that we can quench his fiery darts. Without that armor on, good people will still get hit and there will be casualties. The two things we are promised that separates us from the rest of the world, as Christians, is that in Christ we are guaranteed eternal life in heaven that comes with forgiveness of sins and that nothing, including trials, tribulations, afflictions, things past, present, things to come or life and death can separate us from the love of Christ. Apart from that, we must understand that there is an appointed time for all of us to die. Death in its many diverse ways will come unless we remain to see the Lord return. I could relate many other scriptures such as "The devil comes like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" and so on. You get the point though...the devil is working. But something else is going on too. People are having to make a choice, nations are having to decide who they will follow. Will they follow God or will they rebel against Him and choose their own ways or the ways of deceived leaders? Satan rages and God judges the disobedient. Is it any wonder that the prophet, when he saw the burning bush asked God, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" He really did not know.
This brings into question the tragedy in the Philippines, as an example. Many churches were caught up in that storm and destroyed. Many Christians lost their lives along with others. Those that knew the Lord and died were immediately caught away to heaven by waiting angels and those who did not know the Lord were consigned to hell.
We are seeing superstorms like never before. We never saw this to the same degree as now in the 60s and 70s or even in biblical times. But Bible prophecy says these days of judgment would come. It is not only that God is judging wickedness in the earth...a refusal of nations to turn to Him but rather rebel, but it is also that mankind through foolishness has brought many of these calamities upon himself. How we treat the earth, pollutants, damage to our ozone, nuclear testing, etc.....it may all have an effect on what is actually happening around us. It may indeed effect the weather. The Bible says that in the last days technology would increase but it also says about the people living in this time that "professing themselves to be wise they became fools." But I want to take this a step further by going specifically to the Word of God for a moment. As I prayed about all this, the Lord took me to a rather obscure scripture I had not really noticed before. It is in 1 Chronicles, chapter 16 and beginning with the last part of verse 33. It states about God, "FOR HE COMETH TO JUDGE THE EARTH." First understand that this world as we know it is under judgment and judgment indeed will come. If we continue reading as follows the Word reads, "Oh, give thanks unto Jehovah.... (the true name for God and no....I am not a Jehovah's witness...am reading from the 1901 American Standard Version)...for He is good; for His lovingkindness endureth forever. AND SAY YE, SAVE US, OH GOD OF OUR SALVATION, AND GATHER US TOGETHER AND DELIVER US FROM THE NATIONS," Do you get it? Do you understand? The answer is that we have to pray specifically, on a daily basis, that when God judges the nations for their wickedness as a whole, that WE WILL BE DELIVERED FROM THE NATIONS....that is, from the judgements that fall on the rest of the nations. This is not just in reference to other nations attacking us as one may think. If we do not pray that prayer, we could be destroyed with others because God does not see our mortal life on this earth as true destruction. He looks at the end picture of the fact we would just wake up and live eternally with Him immediately thereafter and in God's view what is eternal is more important to Him than a life on earth that is temporal and one in which we will all eventually move on from anyway. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? God would have destroyed that city along with anyone righteous or unrighteous in it when He brought judgement. But how were the lives of righteous Lot and a few others possibly spared? It was Abraham who had to bargain with God for them and ask if God would destroy the righteous with the wicked. He first asked if there were just 50 righteous people would God spare the city and God agreed. My point here though is that had Abraham not asked, it probably would not have happened. There were not 50, nor 45, nor 40 nor 30, nor 20, nor 10 righteous people in those cities. He destroyed the city because there were not even 10 righteous people...only 4 actually...but he saved the 4 and took them out of the city before destroying it although Lot's wife looked back and became a salt pillar for disobeying God. But here is the point....THE PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF EVEN RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE HAD TO BE ASKED FOR BY ABRAHAM. AND IN THE SCRIPTURE I JUST READ IN 1 CHRONICLES, THERE HAD TO BE A SPECIFIC PRAYER ASKING GOD TO DELIVER ONE FROM THE JUDGEMENT HE BRINGS ON THE NATIONS.
So what am I saying? I am saying that often we take God's protection for granted. We often pray over dinner and ask God's blessings in general.....BUT THE TIME IS UPON US WHERE WE NEED TO BE VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT WE PRAY FOR AND ABOUT GOD'S COVERING BECAUSE JUDGMENT IS COMING. Some of us think we are pleasing God and gracing Him with our presence if we even pray for five minutes! But what ever happened to the man and woman of God who spent hours on their knees in prayer and in His Word?
We are in a war, my friends. We are commanded in the Bible to "fight the good fight of faith." It is a "fight". We are told, "The Kingdom of God suffers violence and violent men (and women) take it by force." This means our intensity and determination to see Christ's victory manifested in the earth, in us as well as to contend for the things of God has to be as great or even greater than Satan's determination to challenge them and even destroy them, if he can.
Finally, one may ask, "But what about the angels. Don't they protect us?" In the Bible the angels did many things. They are identified in scripture simply as "ministering spirits". They spoke judgment, carried it out and at times protected God's servants. Peter was let out of jail by an angel.....but it happened only after many had been praying. However, years later no angel interfered or came to any visible aid we know of when Peter was crucified upside down in a manner he asked for ....choosing for God to be given glory in his death and choosing to die in such a way because he did not even feel he was worthy to die in the same upright manner as Jesus did. Our angels will protect us from death... until our time to die has come. I have experienced what I know to be angelic protection many times in my life....yet one day, if I do not live to see the return of the Lord, I shall leave this body behind and go on to be with the Lord in heaven. But angels do not alter the final time and manner of our death. We all will die someday unless we live to see the Lord return. But death is only momentary and the Bible says that as soon as we die, we are immediately present with the Lord....or consigned to hell for rejection of Christ.
Perhaps I have not given you answers to every specific question you have, but this hopefully will be a start and provide you with something to think about. I have seen the Lord take a person who lived for the devil all his or her life and then within days after being saved, He took them away. Why? Perhaps because of someone's prayer, God, who is all knowing but does not always choose to look, decided to turn the page to the future, saw that this person was ready to go now but 10 years from now would fall away and not make it....so in His love and mercy, God chose to take them then so they could have eternal life in heaven. Paul spoke about one who was in sin and that he had given this person to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so that in the day of the Lord (eternity) his spirit could be saved. What an act of love when you think about it! God knew the man would repent in his affliction and was willing to take him in that state right then and there rather than let him recover, return to a life of sin and end up in hell.
Brothers and sisters, we do not know all the answers. God's ways are far above our own. We sit at a railroad track and we only see what is immediately there....first the engine, then the box cars and then the caboose. God though sits off at a distance, perhaps on a mountain and He looks at that same train. What does He see that we do not? He sees the engine, box cars and caboose....all at the same time. He sees the beginning of a thing and the end....all at once...all in a second of time. God knows what is best. May the Lord bless you.
Evangelist Mischa Safdie'
Mischa S. Safdie' Ministries
136 N. Grand Ave., Ste. 278, W. Covina, CA 91791 (951) 796-3936
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