Explanations

 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

I recently listened to a conversation between Pastor Greg Laurie and Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham. They were discussing the awful assasination of Charlie Kirk, a man being greatly used by God to take the Gospel of Christ to a young generation desperately in need of His truth.

Graham asked Laurie how do you answer people who have questions as to how God could allow such a terrible thing? It's a question we all come to when we witness tragedy invade the lives of people. Why didn't God stop it? Why didn't He intervene? He could have, but He didn't. How could he allow such an evil act? Laurie answered with something that really struck me with its deep but simple truth. "We don't live on explanations. We live on His promises." 

This is not dodging a difficult question. The truth is that no explanation would ever satisfy us. It would only leave us with more questions. Some points need to be made here. First and foremost, we need to understand that we live in a fallen world where sin and evil abound. The history of civilization bears this out. Evil is real and it is rooted in sin, which is the result of the fallen human race's rebellion against God. That this is so is proven by the hatred that has always been directed towards those who present His truth about the human condition and that the only remedy for it is Christ and Christ alone. Charlie Kirk was killed by a man who hated him. Social media was filled with posts that celebrated his death, that celebrated cold blooded murder. Kirk was not the first and he won't be the last. He was preceded by a long line of martyrs, all who followed in the footsteps of Christ, who Himself was murdered by those who hated Him and His message. Again, sin and evil are everywhere in this fallen world and we have no defense against it because we are born with the same disease that infects this world. Christ came to set us free from this curse, but we have refused to believe that we're under it, and we refuse to believe Him.

I go back to Laurie's answer. We don't live on explanations. We live on His promises. We live on His Word. Evil and sin abound in this fallen world, but He has promised that His grace abounds more. Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his brothers who hated him for it. He endured great injustice in Egypt, but God worked through it all to use Joseph to save not only his family and nation, but countless Egyptian lives as well. When he was reunited with his brothers he told them that what they meant for evil, God turned into good. In this fallen, broken world, where evil does abound, His grace and goodness will abound more. Much has happened in my life that others meant for harm, but the Lord has turned to good. He has always done so. He will always do so. One day, He will explain it all, but till then, trust Him. His promises are true. Every one of them. Hold onto Him. He will bring them to pass. In it all, claim the promise of Psalm 18:46, "The Lord lives, blessed be my Rock."

Blessings,
Pastor O