Good morning Lord Jesus,, Be though my vision oh Lord of my heart..
Last week at the Waffle House I was in a conversation with a waitress who had lost a brother. I told her it was three years ago that my brother committed suicide and took his own life. Un known to me, a man at the low bar was listening to our conversation. He sat by meetups this morning and told me he had hear my conversation last week. He told me how he had been a victim of a bad situation and he felt like God did not deliver and protect him. The man asked me a question I am asked often and we hear often, "Why does bad things happen to good people? I pulled out my phone and read from Scripture.
"Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people all about this new life." At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin--the full assembly of the elders of Israel--and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, "We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside." On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to. Then someone came and said, "Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people." At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them." Acts 5:17-26
QUESTION: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31
ANSWER: A lot of people, powers, principalities and pain can come against us.
QUESTION: Will the opposition ultimately win?
ANSWER: Not a chance!
QUESTION: Can they inflict unbearable pain on us in the meantime?
ANSWER: You better believe it.
In Acts, as things heat up in Jerusalem in the spread of the Gospel we are going to start seeing some bad things happening to good people. The outcomes will vary. In this particular instance, it miraculously worked out for the Apostles as an angel sprang them from jail. As we turn the page into chapter six and seven, we will witness our first martyr in the stoning of Stephen.
But notice as we read along in Acts that no one, not one person seems to be asking the perennial question of our time, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Do you know why the Bible does not directly answer the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
Because the Bible is simply not asking that question. Neither were the early Christians asking this question. The early Christians were not philosophizing about sin, death and evil. They knew it was there and they were fighting against it with everything they had. At times as we read an angel would spring them out of jail at midnight. At other times like with Stephen, they would take rocks to the face until the bitter end.
The Gospel is not one of prosperity as some pastors are preaching, it is one of cross bearing. The Gospel promises that we will win the war, but it almost guarantees we will lose quite a few battles along the way. The true sign of prosperity is not success in all things, it is endurance despite all things. We are not talking about a “grit your teeth and grind it out” endurance born of human effort. When you allow the Holy Spirit to be involved, it looks like joyfully horrific perseverance.
Fast forward to the present day. At times the enemy will look like an Islamic Jihadist suicide bomber in a peaceful marketplace. At other times the enemy will take on the form of stage 4 cancer in an 18 year old girl. Sometimes the chemotherapy fails and cancer wins the battle. At other times, the suicide bombers vest will fail to detonate, and the believers will live to see another day.
The Gospel does not guarantee a get out of jail free card. Peter was arrested and at night his chains fell off and in the morning he was set free. James was arrested and at night his chains remained and in the morning he was beheaded. At times, as a bonus of encouragement for believers, miracles will happen. We can rejoice when it does, but we must remember, the mission is not contingent on the miracle. After all, where does the angel send the Apostles after delivering them? The survey says: right back sharing the Gospel into the fray of life, where they will be beaten and arrested again!
If the suffering of Christians is designed to convey any particular message, it is this: “Holy Love takes the long view.”
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39. Read Acts 5:17-7:60. Read of the deliverance of the Apostles. Read of the stoning of Stephen. Stephen does not ask “Why bad things are happening to him?” He only speaks of Holy Love.
My family, I pray this morning you will not ask in prayer why there is sin, death, and evil in the world and how you can avoid it, But instead ask, how and where you can participate in love, all in, fighting against it with everything you got and helping those impacted by it. All by and in the name of Jesus. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!.
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