Is he still good if he says No?
Have you ever had one of those moments where God says No? Maybe you asked for something to work out and no matter how much you prayed and cried out to him it seemed like he wasn’t listening?
Maybe it was the job you wanted that didn’t work out, you studied for an exam but your marks don’t reflect the effort you put in, you prayed for healing, but God did not heal them…they died. There’s that problem you’ve been praying for a while now…and nothing seems to change. There’s wars, poverty, conflict there’s so much sadness in the world… why???
I’m sitting here trying to reconcile all of this in my mind. But he said “ask and it shall be given to you”. He said “Look, I am the LORD, the God who rules over all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me?”
He was the same God who turned water into wine- he didn’t even flinch when he did this miracle, he raised Lazarus from the dead. Yet all this evil still persists and I sit here and ask myself..but why God??
Daniel 3 tells the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who stepped into King Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace because they refused to bow down to the Kings statue. In verse 17-18 they say “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” When they stepped into that furnace, they did not know for certain whether they would be saved… but they did it anyways. Though the situation looked hopeless, they knew they served a God who is greater than kings and armies. In this case God came in and saved them. The important thing that I learn from this story is that they were prepared to die for God whether or not he saved them. Scary as it sounds, I think we need to develop that kind of attitude too. Will we praise God and still serve him even when things don’t work out they way we had hoped?
Isaiah 43:2 says: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
It doesn’t say I will save you from the waters OR you will not walk through fires. Gods promise is to be with us even in those difficult times.
I don’t have all the answers, but I know that hard times do come. In fact the Bible also promises us of that. John 16:33 says “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The hope that I have is not in this world, but in the world to come- In eternity. My hope is in the fact that we will sit at the feet of our maker and none of these things will matter at all. When we begin to look at our problems in light of eternity, all of a sudden all these things don’t seem as big and they don’t hurt as much.
I guess what I’m saying is that despite all that happens, I have hope. That’s what keeps me going. My hope is not in anything this world has to offer- its not in wealth, in success, in that job, in health, in status or other people’s approval. My hope is in Jesus- I fix my eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of my faith. So without a doubt, I can say that even if he says no… I know that he is still good.
For the God on the mountain, is still God in the valley
When things go wrong, he’ll make them right
And the God of the good times, is still God in the bad times
The God of the day, is still God in the night
Lord help us, so when the day of testing comes… may we know that you are still God and that you are still in control. May we have faith to trust you and may we resolve in our hearts that we serve a God who is mighty and able to save. But if he does not we will still serve him.
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