By Pastor Matt Hantz

Blessed Hope Community Church

Seriously.  Knock it off!  At some point I ¢â‚¬â„¢m starting to feel like a frustrated parent who wants to send 2020 to its room with no dinner. 

Covid-19, quarantines, missed school, cancelled sports seasons, demonstrations, riots, violence, fights over masks.  You name it — it seems to be going wrong.  And now this!  A windstorm that just wreaks havoc across our community and the state.  Some of us were lucky — and had to clean up a few branches and limbs and were only without power for a few hours.  But others weren ¢â‚¬â„¢t so lucky.  Lost power, homes destroyed, property thrashed, livelihoods threatened — and months of clean-up on the horizon.  And while it ¢â‚¬â„¢s great to see community come together to help one another in these difficult times — when you add them all together there is an obvious question that many people struggle with.  Where is God in all of this?

That ¢â‚¬â„¢s the question a lot of people have asked me recently - why God would allow these things to happen?  Really, they are asking — is God really good?  If He is good, then why do bad things happen?  Is it that He isn ¢â‚¬â„¢t powerful enough to stop them?  Does He just not care?  Is it possible that God isn ¢â‚¬â„¢t even real?  And the truth is — those aren ¢â‚¬â„¢t unfair or bad questions.  They are sincere, heart-felt questions that are filled with pain, uncertainty and grief — and they deserve to be answered. 

So here is what I know to be true ¢â‚¬ ¦and I hope it helps.  God is real.  God is good.  God is powerful.  God cares.  God loves us.  And yes ¢â‚¬ ¦evil, pain and suffering still happen in our world.  Why does God allow some bad things and stop others?  Honestly — I don ¢â‚¬â„¢t know.  But — and here is where faith comes in — even though I don ¢â‚¬â„¢t know the purpose behind bad things happening ¢â‚¬ ¦what I know about God allows me to trust Him even when I don ¢â‚¬â„¢t get it.  The Bible clearly teaches a couple of helpful truths that help us have this kind of faith. 

1 - God is not the creator of evil and suffering (Genesis 1:31)
2 — God is not immune from suffering, but immerses himself in it to bring us freedom (2 Cor 5:21)
3 - Though suffering isn't good - God can (and will) use it to accomplish his good purposes (Romans 8:28)
4 - The day is coming when suffering will cease and God will judge evil (2 Peter 3:9)
5 - Our present suffering will pale in comparison to what God has in store (Romans 8:18)

Listen — I know that this can be a lot to process — especially when you ¢â‚¬â„¢re right in the middle of the difficult times.  Please feel free to contact me if you ¢â‚¬â„¢re struggling right now and I ¢â‚¬â„¢ll be happy to chat.