the source of disorder and chaos...

the second kind of evil is called natural evil. these are things like earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes. natural phenomena that cause pain and suffering. these too are the result of sin having been allowed into the world.

this is how one author explained it: “when we human beings told GOD to shove off. HE partially honored our request. nature began to revolt. the earth was cursed. genetic breakdown and disease began. pain became part of the human experience.”

genesis 3.18 (niv) says, because of sin, nature was corrupted and thorns and thistles entered into the world. romans 8:22 (tev) says, for we know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain like the pain of childbirth. in other words it’s almost as if nature were longing for redemption to take place so things would be set right again. that’s the source of disorder and chaos.

some people ask, “couldn’t GOD have foreseen that this was going to happen? that people would rebel against HIM. couldn’t HE have seen that in advance?” the answer to that is of course. so why did HE go ahead and create things?

i think the answer is, using an analogy, is like you being a parent. you knew before you had your child that there was a very real possibility that your child would endure suffering in their life, some pain, some hardship. they may have some disappointments in life, some failures in life. they may reject you as a parent – walk away from you and cause great hurt to you. and yet knowing the very real possibility of that you went ahead and had kids anyway. why did you do it? because you knew there was also the very real possibility the potential for tremendous joy and a loving relationship and a deep meaning in that relationship that you would have with your child.

and the same thing is true with GOD. HE knew that we would rebel against HIM. but HE also knew that many people would choose to follow HIM, would choose to love others, would choose to spend eternity with HIM in heaven. and it was all worth it for those people even though it meant for HIM the suffering and the death of HIS SON JESUS CHRIST on the cross.

just a thought from the front porch…

remember 2 things…

there are 2 things to learn from noah’s mistake…

#1 remember that our sins don’t remove our victories. did the fact that noah sinned and got drunk, did it mean that him building the ark didn’t mean anything anymore? of course not. GOD had still used him to save a world. so our sins do not remove our victories. they make us feel sometimes like they’re not victories but the sins do not remove the victories in our lives.

i’ve noticed that whenever we have SPIRITual highs in our lives, satan always tempts us. do you know when i have some of my greatest temptations? it is on my mondays. the day after i had some of my greatest victories. satan knows when we are the most vulnerable.

you have a great SPIRITual high. then after that you think, “i’ll never sin again, i feel so close to GOD!” then you go out and you might even actually sin again. and you think, “how could i have done that? i got a glimpse of who GOD really is. how could i have done that?” satan says, “you didn’t learn anything about GOD. this mistake wipes out every good thing that you’ve learned.” that’s the temptation that comes to your heart.

that’s not true. don’t buy it. go back, ask for forgiveness of your sin, confess it to GOD and tie in again to what GOD has done and keep growing.

it’s sort of like going up a mountain with some little dips in it. you go up the mountain and then you go down into a little dip. when you’re in this little dip you feel like you’re down at the bottom of the mountain because you went down a little. but GOD knows you’ve come a long way. get going again and go back up the mountain of growth and faith. that’s what’s happening in our lives. our sins don’t remove our victories.

#2 remember that our victories don’t remove our sins. the victory of CHRIST on the cross removed our sin, the sin that’s upon all of us. we’re no longer accountable for that. but you can’t rely on past victories for today’s faith. you can’t rely on what happened last week to keep your life and relationship with the LORD fresh today. you can build on it, grow through it, and look to it. but you can’t rely on it. you and i have got to rely on our living relationship with CHRIST today.

just a thought from the front porch…