One of the hardest facts to wrap our heads around about God is that nothing happens without Him. Isaiah tells us “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7 NIV). However, we like to compartmentalize things. We see hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters and we place them over here in their own category. War, famine, starvation, and disease are put into their own category. We take everything that we think is “evil” and we assign it to the Devil and everything that is good we assign to God.

Human beings like playing the blame game. We can see it from our early creation with Adam and Eve. Eve blames the serpent for deceiving her while Adam blames God for putting Eve there with him causing him to sin. When I think of what it means to blame though, what occurs to me is that the thought process starts with the question “Why?” and then shuffles along until it reaches a conclusion that the “Who” is to blame. The “why” question never really gets answered because the blame has settled on the “Who.” What’s worse is that we’re often wrong in our answers but we settle for being wrong even when we don’t realize it. Somehow, as long as we know who is to blame we’re okay with moving on from there.

If we adjust our thinking and realize that everything comes from God then perhaps we can shift from asking “Why” to asking “What?” When we move from asking “Why” and start asking something like “What” then we’re moving to a position of action and away from a position of ignorance and helplessness. Certainly, we may not yet know the answer to the “Why?” but do we need to know that answer when we trust the One who sent it? For example, if I ask God something like, “What do you want me to do?” or “What do want me to learn?” I’m acknowledging the sovereignty of God and my understanding that He has a divine plan. Of course, I probably don’t know the details of that plan but I know the outcome is going to be good because it comes from God.

It’s all about perspective. We have our minds and our perspectives on earthly things while God’s is on eternal things. We can’t help it. We live in a linear world while God is outside of linear time and space. When we see disasters and such we don’t know what good is going to come from them because it’s beyond our scope of understanding. We see those adversely impacted by such disasters and we mourn for them. Rightly so. However, we don’t know what God is doing in their lives. We don’t know what He’s doing in our lives either. When we trust in Him and ask Him what we can do to help Him, we’re turning away from living like victims and walking in the victory that Jesus paid for on the Cross.

Do you know God? God knows you and He loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so that we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

Advertisement