Sometimes I get pretty down when I see the amount of evil that is out there. Sometimes I can even get impatient with God. I find myself struggling with that age-old question that goes something like, "God, if you are loving, why don't you do something about all the evil that is going on in the world?"
But this morning I thought, what if God answered something like, "Ok David, what would you have me do?"
I'd probably answer, "Do that 'smite thing,' you know, just wipe them out!"
"Who David? All the people you consider evil? Or all the people I see as evil?"
And therein lies the problem. There is the sobering thought.
We assume that God has the same measuring standard that we do. But he doesn't. In fact, according to God's standard of good and evil,
"No one is righteous— not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.
All have turned away; all have become useless.
No one does good, not a single one. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.Their tongues are filled with lies. Snake venom drips from their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don't know where to find peace."
They have no fear of God at all.'" Romans 3:10-18 (NLT)
Fortunately, God is far more patient with the world than we are, fortunately he is providing us all with time to repent.
"But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. " 2 Peter 3:8-10 (NIV)
God's ways are simply not our ways. And perhaps that is a very good thing, for you and me.
"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord.
"And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)
