I've been learning something lately. There's some things I'll never understand, no matter how hard I try. And sometimes I'll know something in my head and even know it in my heart, but I have a hard time actually believing it. Like knowing God is a good God even though terrible things happen.
As usual, this blog comes back to sex trafficking. I've been reading articles. And as I read these articles about people who organize multi-state prostitution rings or drug children to kidnap them and force them to "perform tricks" on men 3 times their age, I hear through my headphones songs of how great our God is. It's hard to take both of those things in at the same time. It's hard for me to comprehend a great God when I read about how screwed up this world is.
I mean, if God's so great why doesn't he stop it all? Right? I know I'm not the only one to think that, no matter how good a Christian you might think you are. He's all powerful and He's loving and He's all knowing. So why is He just sitting back and letting all this crap happen? Can't He intervene? Can't He do something to stop these people? Can't He change their minds?
But then I remember two things: God has given us free will and He is on the side of those who are oppressed. It takes on both sides that way. God gave us a free will. If He didn't, what would be the point? But that means people can choose to do the wrong thing. And because Satan is so deceiving, he can make those wrong things look so tempting. So people continue to do it until it becomes mindless and there's no feelings against it. But that free will also means that when we make the right choices, they really are our choices. That to me is exciting! My choice to live my life for God is my own choice not something God made me do!
And there's the fact that He's on the side of the oppressed. That doesn't mean He loves them more than anyone else, but His heart breaks for them. He cries with them after the man leaves their hard dusty bed. He is next to them as they're beaten by their pimps. He never once leaves their side.
I know this because I saw it. I heard it. When I was in Cambodia, I heard stories from women who can't deny the fact that their Father in Heaven watched out for them the whole time. They told stories of when they felt there was no hope left, but they felt the strength to go on. That strength was God. They know that now.
It's hard for me to learn about these people who live to hurt others. It's hard for me to learn about them and still know that God is good. But I know it in my heart. I know it with all my heart, actually. God is good. He does not leave us in times of trouble, no matter what that trouble looks like.
Matthew 28:20 - "Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age"
No comments:
Post a Comment