God's will

Have you watched the news lately? Sometimes I think I may just have to stop. Why? Because it's difficult to see all the bad news that there is to see night after night. It's difficult to see the state of our economy not getting a whole lot better. It's difficult to see people and places being destroyed by fires, earthquakes, floods, and by the enormous amount of oil that spilled in the gulf.

As a Christian, I find myself being asked by unbelievers "where on earth is the goodness of God in all of this? What kind of God lets terrible things happen?". Of course, I know that God is good all the time. I know that God doesn't delight in the affliction that so many suffer and in the slow but steady demise of our planet. But, how do I explain to an unbeliever that God is here, that He sees what is happening and is saddened about it? How do I explain that He cares about and loves all of us? How do I explain God's will to an unbeliever?

Today, I found a great excerpt from C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. He puts it in a context that is quite easy to understand. He writes:

"Christians believe that an evil power has made himself for the present the prince of this world. And, of course, that raises problems. Is this state of affairs in accordance with God's will or not? If it is, He is a strange God you will say; and if it is not, how can anything happen contrary to the will of a Being with absolute power?

But anyone who has been in authority knows how a thing can be in accordance with your will in one way and not in another. It may be quite sensible for a mother to say to her children, "I'm not going to go and make you tidy the schoolroom every night. You've got to learn to keep it tidy on your own". Then she goes up one night and finds the teddy bear and the ink and the French grammar all lying in the grate. That is against her will. She would prefer the children to be tidy. But on the other hand, it is her will which has left the children free to be untidy."

This certainly makes sense. God has given us the freedom to live our lives as we please, but God's will is His perfect plan for our lives. It's to give us hope and a future, not to harm us.

I hope I keep this in mind the next time I have a pity party and feel like asking God "why me?". (It does happen!)

Thank you for stopping by and may you and yours be blessed today and always.

{hugs}