Scripture Reference: Malachi 1:2-5

From Last Lesson: Have you noticed how quick we are to blame God for things He has nothing to do with?

But what about the crack addict himself? Can’t we blame him? Some will be quick to say that he isn’t to blame for his actions, after all, he has a disease. His addiction is a medical problem, not a moral one. But wasn’t the first time he took crack a moral choice, not as a result of an addiction?

What about Satan? Shouldn’t he deserve some of the blame? The Word tells us, “You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God” (Ephesians 2:2 NLT).

Satan is active, working in the hearts of those who are disobedient to God. His intent is evil and destructive.

God has chosen to allow evil and good to grow next to one another. People choose which path they take, either they follow God, or they follow Satan. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus tells the parable of the “wheat and the tares,” in which He told the disciples, “but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn” ’ ” (Matthew 13:25-30). In this world, good and evil will co-exist.

So where was God’s love in the examples I gave?

God’s love was in the prayers and the presence of the Chaplain. His love was in the arms of the nurse. His love is in the girl’s ability to forgive and to heal. God’s love is in the likelihood that this little girl will one day be a “wounded healer” and help others.

According to the story, this wasn’t the first wounded child Jeannie, the nurse supervisor had taken in her arms. A year before this incident it was her own son. Chaplain Burkes said, “She placed her arms around that child in much the same way I’d seen her place her arms around her own son who was paralyzed in an auto accident the year before.”

You can ask, you have a right to ask, where is God’s love? However, the answer is no, He doesn’t keep evil from happening, but He makes sure that evil doesn’t stand alone, it doesn’t get the final say. He sends His people, and His Spirit to comfort the afflicted and heal the wounded.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.