I appreciate all the comments that I have received and it
confirmed to me that I had sensed correctly what the Lord desired me to do.
Apparently many are struggling with this issue or desire to receive some
clarity from Scripture concerning this. Sadly, I believe this has become an
issue due to the very unbiblical teaching coming from the “health,
wealth and prosperity” movement, which twists the Scripture and leads many to believe
that children of God are removed from the problems of living in a fallen
world.
Last time we looked at two reasons that disasters happen in
this world. First, was God’s judgment, but we made it clear that no
one but God Himself knows when that is the case. We know that disaster befell
the entire earth due to sin at the flood because Scripture states that. We also
know that certain disasters will happen in the future during the time of the
Tribulation, again, because Scripture states that. However, even though we all
will have our own opinions, it is spiritual arrogance and presumptuous for anyone
to declare a disaster, whether through nature or disease, as a judgment from
God. Those that have done so have cause much confusion and even pain with their
unmeasured words.
President Abraham Lincoln came to the belief that the reason
America paid such a high price of it’s young men during the war, was due to God
judging America for the rape of the African continent of her young men and
women. Personally, I believe he is right, yet he never claimed that as from
God, neither would I. Only God knows why certain events happen and they are not
clear unless His Word states it.
Second, we saw that there are times when the disaster was
caused directly by what we have done. That disaster is an effect of our “cause”.
Again, we need to be careful in trying to proclaim authoritatively that we know
a disaster was caused by our own actions unless the facts clearly show this.
That means all agendas must be checked at the door! The facts are what they
are, and conclusions must be clearly provable or we are still dealing with “theory”.
The last reason, and the main one, is that disasters happen
because that is the outcome of living in a world that was impacted by the fall
of man into sin. This does not mean God has less control over these disasters,
God is always totally in control of everything, however, there is a big
difference in God being proactive in a disaster versus God being passive in it.
He allows everything that happens to happen, even my personal sin, but He does
not MAKE it happen! God has set certain laws of nature in order, those laws
continue to function, but now in a realm that has been impacted by sin.
Disasters, whether they are from nature or disease, did not exist in the garden
before the fall. When the first man and woman chose to disobey God’s
command it effected everything…in fact it ‘infected” everything with sin.
Genesis 3:17–19 And
to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow
thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of
your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which
you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”
Romans 8:20–21 Against its will, all creation was
subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to
the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and
decay.
I do not understand where some of the leaders in the Church
ever got the idea that as believers we walk around this earth in a safety
bubble that insulates us from the ramifications of the original sin. We all
still die, don’t we? Why do we think that if a typhoon comes it will not hit
our house; or if a disease breaks out, we do not have to take precautions
because we have an invisible force field around us that protects us from every
sickness?
To pervert the meaning of “by His stripes we are healed” to mean we will not be affected by the diseases of this world, not
only exposes a very bad hermeneutic, it cheapens the real issue of the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ! Our body is a temporal one and will continue to
decay due to the fall, but our spirit is eternal and is separated from God
forever, unless something was done to change that. Jesus healed our souls from
the disease of sin! Yes, God does still heal and will, but only when He
chooses. As Scripture states - we come to the elders, get anointed and ask for that healing, but it is not
guaranteed! It is always according to God's will. It is amazing how quiet one of those health, wealth and prosperity
teachers become when they or their spouse becomes ill. They don’t
claim it is because of personal sin or lack of faith…instead there is a
deafening silence.
God makes it clear that good and bad things happen to all!
Matthew 5:45 In that way, you will be acting as true
children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil
and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.
Hebrews 11:32–38 How much more do I need to say? It would
take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson,
Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice,
and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions,
quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole
armies to flight. Women received
their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to
turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life
after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with
whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some
died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the
sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and
oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over
deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
Jesus, when trying to illustrate that all will die and all need
to repent makes the very point that bad things just happen, not because of
anything a person did.
Luke 13:1–5 About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate
had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the
Temple. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other
people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And
you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what
about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were
they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you
repent, you will perish, too.”
In fact, Jesus even made it clear that He does not desire to
have us live in an unreal world, but the real one. His real concern is in the
spiritual one.
John 17:14–15 I have given them your word. And the world
hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to
the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them
safe from the evil one.
We need to understand that this world will have many troubles
and we are not exempt from them. Most are not judgments directly from God that
we know of. So if the Scripture is silent concerning that, so should we be.
In closing, there are two very important truths we need to take
into and through each disaster we experience. First, we do not go through them
alone. Unlike many, we always have the eternal God holding our hand and
offering guidance to us as we enter into a time of trial. Second, we have the
opportunity to allow any disaster in our life to become a very precious
experience as we lovingly help others that experience similar times.
2 Corinthians 1:3–4 All praise to God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so
that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give
them the same comfort God has given us.
This is where we learn that victory in the midst of disaster is
a reality. When we become “other” focused, we take our eyes off of
ourselves and become the agent God uses to bring comfort to those that are
suffering. Nothing brings greater contentment to the heart than sharing God’s
grace and love to those that need it so badly.
Let me leave you with an admonition. When you have a time of
trouble or disaster enter your life, make sure your eyes are looking two
places. First, to God and then to others, this will change how you deal with
these times.
