mercy triumphs

It’s tragic how many people think God is mad at His people. God is a good Father, more loving than we may ever know. I don’t know Pat Robertson, and I don’t judge him. This post is not to criticize him. But I just want to clarify what I believe. I hear so many people ask, “If God is so good, then why does he allow such bad things?” And there is the other side to it, “God causes tragic situations to bring judgment and humility.” Both sets of theology are so far from the truth. In case you don’t know, Robertson said this while talking about the Haiti earthquake, “You know … something happened a long time ago in Haiti. …They got together and swore a pact to the Devil.” Now he did not directly tie that statement to the direct cause of the earthquake. But he should never have brought it up in the first place. Not when a tragedy has just collapsed their nation. Maybe what he said is true about the pact, I don’t know. Pat Robertson is older and wiser than me and no doubt he is a man of God. Please take the following as a position from innocence and humility. But even if there was a pact with the devil, God never takes His wrath out on people.

God is good beyond anything we can dream or think of. I’m dealing with the second part of the wrong theology first. “God causes tragic situations to bring judgment and humility.” Unfortunately most people and even most Christians believe God is a proverbial big man in the sky. We believe He is a distant cold God that is not interested in our lives. In fact, most people like it like that. Most Christians want religion, rules, or no rules, a formula, a path, an easy way out. We don’t want relationship, but it is in fact what God demands. All God wants is us, our love. He is madly in love with each of us. All He wants is good things for us. I got involved with a Bible study my freshman year of college. We got together every Sunday night to talk about Jesus, our hearts, the adventure we live, and the battle we fight. It was the best thing I ever did. I went so deep with God and my brothers. The deeper I went it got more and more painful, but I also got more and more free. I really started to question why I had a disease. Did God give it to me? Why? Throughout that year I formed a strong friendship with Jesus for the first time in my life. And you know what I found? Goodness. His love for me is deeper than I had ever known. Through my friendship with Him, through His presence, through His voice, through wisdom and revelation, through His word, through testimony, through worship, through my friends, and through council, I realized that God did not give me my disease. His will is for me to be well. It’s that simple. What mother and father among us would cause calamity to their children? How much more then does God have love for us? I think the best proof is in Jesus. Jesus only did what He saw the Father do. Bill Johnson says Jesus is the most normal Christian in the Bible. He is what we must become. He healed EVERYONE that came to Him. Not one person left Him sick. And Jesus rebuked every storm. Not once did He give a disease or any kind of storm to anyone for any reason. God is a judge, there is a devil, and there is sin. God does have wrath. But because of the blood of Jesus, it is not pointed at people. Not even unbelievers. Mercy ALWAYS triumphs over judgment. As Christians we must not forget that. We must declare and decree His mercy and grace. “For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.” (1 Corinthians 7:14) As believers we must sanctify unclean situations through the love of Jesus. That is our duty. It might be healing the sick, raising the dead, binding the broken hearts, or just loving people. We must go to the dark and release life. Our belief sanctifies the unbelieving. God is good all the time.

“If God is so good, then why does he allow such bad things?” This question is a little tougher to answer. First of all, hurricanes, earthquakes, famine, disease, torment, and death is not the will of God. We already discussed that. So why does it happen? The short and right answer: “I don’t know.” I think its better to not answer a question that God is not answering. Here is what we know. We have Holy Spirit living inside us, the very Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. We have all the authority and power. He has given us reign over the earth. This is our dominion. The reason that we have free will is because God wants us to choose Him. He wants our worship and relationship, but He wants us to choose that. Through our relationship with Him we partner with Him to bring Heaven to earth. To many believers believe that prayer is powerless and become passive in their secret place. In most cases God doesn’t act unless we pray first. It’s not that He needs us, but He chooses to work through us. I’m not going to get out of my chair unless people pray for me. We’re not going to stop hurricanes and earthquakes without praying first. I really believe that through prayer we can prevent disease, poverty, and natural disasters. But it still happens. Everyday people die and it’s not Gods will. Why? I don’t know. Frankie died from Spinal Muscular Atrophy almost seven years ago, and in three weeks I’ll be 24 with the exact same disease. Why? I don’t know. I do know Frankie should be alive today. There is so much that we don’t understand. Whether you like it or believe it or not, we are at war. There is a thief that comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Is an earthquake a result of the war? I don’t know. Please understand that I am not about mindless Christianity. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) We must always be on a pursuit for truth. But sometimes God doesn’t answer every why, and therefore we shouldn’t either. We are very much allowed to ask. God why did the earthquake happen? God why did Frankie die? But if He doesn’t answer we must know that it was not Gods fault, it was not His will. We must not become offended. And finally we must seek justice. It is our responsibility to seek divine justice, making sure no one else parishes in the same way. That’s the best way to deal with tragedy. We must never think that we have arrived, there is always more in God. I will not be satisfied until every single person that asks me for prayer is healed. There is no other option. What do I have better to do? Every person that I pray for and their not healed, that’s on me. There is no lack on Gods part. He is absolutely good. That doesn’t mean I do the guilt thing. Even though it’s on me, I can’t think oh man if only I prayed harder, or oh man if only I didn’t sin that day. What I do instead though is I seek God further. I ask for strategies and words, I ask for wisdom and revelation, and I just worship Him. I live in His presence. And I keep going for it, I never give up. God is so good and so big He uses me. I pray that I will live to see the day that Spinal Muscular Atrophy bows to the name Jesus. I pray that I will live to see the day that nations are so filled with the Spirit and are so protected by the prayers of the saints, that earthquakes can’t harm anyone. I’m alive to bring Heaven to earth. “God why am I in a wheelchair? Why am I on a vent? Why might I die from this? God I’m not hearing an answer, but I know it’s not you. I know you’re deeply in love with me. I know you want me to walk more than I want to walk. God it really hurts. Please come Lord, please bring freedom. Lord I pray that I will never rest until this is beaten. Lord make me hungry for you. Give me an appetite for the impossible. Fill my heart with compassion, fill me with righteous anger, fill me with your love. I want to be so consumed with you that disease will flee when I walk into a room. Jesus I love you.”

That’s what we do when tragedy happens. I’m not perfect, I don’t always have that attitude. But I pray that I do more and more everyday. You may or may not agree with me, and that’s fine. God have mercy on us. Bring restoration and healing to Haiti. Encounter them with your love. Lord I ask for divine justice. I pray that an earthquake will NEVER bring this kind of devastation again. In the name of Jesus. Let your will be done. On earth as it is in Heaven.

“Once the author steps on the stage, the play is over.” -CS Lewis.