365 Days with God - Day 73: God's Fairness

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 73, March 3, 2014

Readings: Psalm 73, Exodus 19, Ezra 9, Romans 9:1-29

One of the most common, if not the most common reason that people refuse to believe in God is this:

"Why would a good God allow xyz to happen? If he's like that, then I just can't believe in him."

I'm going to tell you, I don't know. There are many things in this world that I don't understand, and the why behind many atrocities is one of them.

What I do know, is that this reasoning to not believe in God is the height of arrogance. On the surface it might not seem like it. It might seem like an honest question. We don't understand tragedy. We want a peaceful, joyful world where everything goes right. But our world is anything but peaceful.

If we are unwilling to believe that God exists (or that he is who he says he is) because he doesn't conform to our image of what we think God should be like...then we're refusing to believe in him because he doesn't live up to our standards. We're claiming that we know better than God. That he made the wrong decision. If we were in charge, we wouldn't have made that mistake.

Would you want God's job? Do you really think you could do better? Think about all that it would entail. Think about the unraveling and twisting and turning of the lives of 7 billion people. Do you think you could even begin to do that job?

Only an infinite, all knowing God, transcendent of time, could hope to take on such a task. He didn't ask you to judge his decisions. He didn't ask your opinion. He is God. What right do I have to question him? Paul describes it this way:

Who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to it's molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? (Romans 9:20-21)

What right do I have? I have none. And some may say this is blind obedience, this is foolishness, this is madness. But I would ask - what answer do you have for this world? How do you explain it? I choose to believe in a God who desires a relationship with me. Who gave up everything for me. Who left no stone unturned in his search for my soul. A God that knows more than me. That sees more than I can see. Who is so beyond my comprehension that I cannot hope to understand him. What I do know, is that he loves me. And that is enough.