In A Little While...

I don't know how He does it....

Yes, I know that He is God, and I shouldn't try to "humanize" Him and think that His ability to deal with our world is equal to how we deal with situations. But some things are truly beyond my comprehension.

Take this week for instance. Just in my own circle of acquaintances I have seen a baby die from non-natural causes and another person tell me of the pain she has experienced in the past several years since her son killed her husband. Move to the next circle of relationships (things that happened to a friend of a friend) and there were suicides and sudden deaths from unknown causes. All in the past week.

We shake our heads and wonder what is going on in the world. Yet statistically people die all the time. Events occur that negatively affect lives every day. That's what happens. That's what our existence is all about.

Look at your own life. What has happened to you or to your family or close friend in the last several weeks? Have you been blindsided by something that has tried to destroy you? Have you seen the pain that cuts so deep that people are left wounded and in agony - with no relief in sight? And have you asked yourself, "How can this life go on and on like this?"

Which brings me to my initial question - "How can God tolerate all of this pain?" I know the pain that I have felt this week, and my pain was limited to a few isolated incidents. God, on the other hand, watches everything that goes on, and sees all of the pain that we as humans experience. It's enough to cause me to start thinking like some of the critics who have been so vocal and critical of God. "Doesn't He care," they ask, "about all that we are going through? Why doesn't He step in and stop this? Doesn't He love us?"

And then I am reminded of Isaiah 53:4,5. "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows...He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." My friends, He knows what we are going through because He was there. He experienced all of this pain, and He sympathizes with us as we go through it all. His love for us now is no less than it was then. In fact, it was because of His love that He stood up and said, "Let Me pay the ultimate price for these people. Let Me die in their place."

Even though the price for our salvation was paid, the pain didn't stop. Not yet. The results of sin still have to run the full course. God wanted to make sure that when sin is gone, there will never again be a question of whether it might just be a better way than what God offers. When it is gone, it's done. Finished.

And I believe that day is not far away. Because while God can face the attacks from the devil, He doesn't plan to take it forever. Listen to the words that Jesus shared with us in John 14:1-3 (The Message Bible): "Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live."

And I believe that is what keeps God going. It's the promise of His soon return that helps Him through these times when He, as our heavenly Father, watches His children suffer. It's the knowledge that, like the song that Amy Grant sang some years ago says, "In a little while we'll be with the Father - can't you see Him smile? In a little time we'll home forever..."

I can't speak for God, but I know that is what keeps me going!

God bless you abundantly!