Some people ask, "How can you worship a God who started wars, commanded that women and children and animals be killed, and who causes trials for His own people?" This is an interesting question in light of the fact that humans have killed many more people through murder, human sacrifice and abortion than God ever "killed".
To answer the question: God is the God of justice, as well
as mercy and grace (Job 37:23). He wounds, but He also heals (Job 5:18;
Hebrews 12:10). When whole nations turn against God, after He gives them
many opportunities to come to Him, He sends warnings of judgment for years (Ezekiel
3:17-18). Some nations turn from wickedness, like Nineveh when Jonah
preached to them.
However, when nations refuse to repent and come to God, He
uses other nations to judge them, or He uses nature, like with Noah's great
flood (Psalm 119:71). It is interesting that Noah's great-grandfather,
Enoch, knew there would be a flood. God warned people for hundreds of years
that a flood was coming.
Then, Noah himself warned the people for 120 years that God
wanted them to repent and to turn to Him. God even used the ark as an object
lesson that a flood was actually coming. Yet, people mocked Noah and ended up
perishing.
God is love and He cares about every one of us (1 John
4:8; John 3:16). God loves us so much that He became one of us to pay the
penalty of our sins (John 3:16; John 1:1). He made
His laws for our benefit, not His. He does not want us to hurt one another, and
He wants us to honor Him for who He is, what He does for us and for our very
life. He is waiting for you to come to Him.
Prayer:
Father God, You amaze me with the abundance of love, which
You showed over and over again on the nations You had Your prophets warn. You
warn modern humanity too by your prophets' Biblical history and through the preachers
of your Word. The problem with the human race is our pride and self-reliance.
Our penchant for giving Satan control of our life allows him to steal, kill and
destroy (John 10:10). This grieves Your heart (Lamentations
3:33). Thank you for always turning around every negative aspect
of life for our good (Romans 8:28).
Thought for the Day:
What Satan means for evil, God always uses for our good. -
Genesis 50:20
