When God Does Not Make Sense

When God Does Not Make Sense

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity or are persecuted or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? No despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us. “

Romans 8 : 35 – 37

Have you heard of a man by the name of Jim Elliot ? Jim Elliot was a dedicated man of God who loved God and Jesus Christ so much, even more than his own life. In fact, this love led him to give his life to fulltime mission work in reaching for the “aucas,” a savage Indian tribe. Jim Elliot once quoted, “ I will die for the aucas.” Those words were materialized one fateful day, January 8, 1956. Jim Elliot with other four fellow missionaries were slain by the savage Auca Indians. Jim died at the young age of 29.

Why such horrible thing must happen to a man who lived his life so much apart from the ways of the world in order to be acceptable to do God’s will, who desire no other thing in his life to make Christ known to the heathen? This man who at the very tender age, bid goodbye to all his ambitions and dreams, to give his life to a fulltime mission work?

One may say, God does not make sense here.

I was surprised one day when a report reached me that my former churchmate, Bel David died together with her husband in a tragic car accident last Valentines day, 2008.Their car collided wirh a colossal passenger bus. They left two children who are still graders behind.

I could still remember Bel David as a very beautiful soprano who gave up her rewarding career in an airline company to give her life to a fulltime Christian ministry. She was only in her twenties, when she bid goodbye to her prestigious position in “United Airlines,” to dedicate her life to full time christian ministry “Christ For Greater Manila.”

Once again, an agnostic may comment that God really does not exist, for if He does, he does not make any sense.

My neighbor “Mang Pablito” is finding difficulty in his breathing nowadays. He is diagnosed with advanced stage of tuberculoscis by a doctor. One may ask why such thing happen to “Mang Pablito ,“ a man who spent almost all his spare time seeking the Word of God

“Mang Pablito.” is a sixty-nine year old man who does scavenging for a living. Despite the tremendous poverty he was experiencing in his life, he remained faithful in worshipping God and serving Him. When “Mang Pablito” experienced a spiritual rebirth , he forsook all his vices and all his worldly ways. Through the years, he remained steadfast in studying God’s Word. Throughout all his hardships and trials, he persevered and remained seeking God. Why such thing happen to a man who revered God and His Word greatly? Why such affliction must happen to him ?

There are many occurrences in this world wherein seemingly God does not make any sense, but throughout all these things, God remain sovereign and in control. Throughout all the hardships and difficulties in a believer’s life, God’s sustaining grace remain. The presence of death does not indicate that God is powerless or He does nor care, but God’s power reaches beyond death’s door. The soul of a believer will remain unharmed whatever form of death he/she may encounter.

By whetever manner a christian die, does not matter, remember the first century Christians in experiencing death had to be fed to the lions. All those who died in Christ will be resurrected and will receive their “glorified body” whether he/she died through an accident or through a sickness. A true Christian will be victorious in his/her death because first and foremost Jesus is victorious over death. And even death can never separate us from the Love of Christ, for He conquered it, so that we too can be victorious over it.

Thus Jesus death and resurrection makes a great difference. It makes every believer victorious in his/her death no matter how he/she may die. Minus Jesus death and resurrection, Christianity will be a great folly.

Just keep in mind everything here on earth is just temporal, for a believer even death is just temporal. In closing let me quote this passage from 2 Corinthians 5 :1

“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down – when we die and leave these bodies – we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. “