The bible talks about how nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37) and that he has good plans for us. However, we look at the suffering around us and in us, and we can begin to ask the question, “Is God in control?” We know that God is good, but if God is also all-powerful, why doesn’t he just end the suffering?
Think about things like pain, natural disasters, rape, brain cancer etc.
Why doesn’t God take it away if he’s all powerful?
- All powerful means he can do anything.
- He could take away your problem if he wanted to. He could stop the rape or the recent earthquake in Japan if he wanted to.
- And since the earthquake/child abuse happened, it seems to suggest he’s decided not to stop it.
- And since he decided not to stop it he wants you to have the problem.
- And since God is all good, and his decisions are good, it must be good that you have this problem
- Then somehow, if this ‘good’ thing didn’t happen, things would be less good.
- So now you’re in a position where it would be less good if you didn’t get cancer. It would be less good if the natural disaster didn’t kill thousands.
Here’s a rhetorical question: If God wills any of this, what do you need a devil for?
Here’s a serious question: Where do you get your picture of God from?
- John 1:1 – the word became flesh
- Colossians 1:15 – The Son is the image of the invisible God
- Philippians 2:6 – Who, being in very nature God
- Hebrews 1:3 – He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature
- John 14:7-9 – Whoever has seen me has seen the Father
Therefore, when you want to know God, you look at Jesus
When did Jesus cause cancer/earthquakes etc?
So if Jesus and our conclusion don’t match, we’ve gone wrong somewhere.
We often think that power = control and conclude that since God is all powerful, God is all-controlling. But if our model of God is Jesus, why would we think that?
There are different types of “power”:
- Neanderthal power (brute force power)
- Machiavellian power (manipulating power)
- Wisdom power (insight, look at it this way)
- Agape power (winning over by serving/sacrifice/example)
Question: Do these different types of power help us see God’s power in different ways?
God doesn’t control everything. Humans and angels have free will. Lucifer chose to fall and become Satan, some angels chose to fall with him to become demons. Daniel 10 v12 onwards shows an Angel being foiled by the Prince of Persia. God had answered Daniel’s prayer and dispatched an Angel who couldn’t deliver the answer because free will was set against him. As humans we often promote our own agendas over advancing God’s kingdom.
Here’s the grabber though – whatever the situation is, whatever evil and badness is going on, God can bring good out of it, as is mentioned in Romans 8:28. He is present in the messy and painful parts of our lives.