Many people walk through life with the idea that the world is a fair place. Good people get good things. Bad people get bad things. If an injustice happens, then God, who is all-powerful and all-knowing, will fix it. This model works for a while if you don’t examine the world too closely. Finally, something tragic happens and such a person is upset with God or questions God’s existence.
The model is so prevalent it works its way into world religion, as in the idea of Karma, or into folk Christianity, or into general agnostic beliefs. Is this the way the world works? Did the Bible suggest that this is the way the world works?
The Bible’s book on suffering is the Old Testament book of Job. It tells the story of a good man who is noticed by God for his righteousness. Satan also notices him and puts him through some serious suffering. Many people read Job and then fail to understand what it is saying about life. According to Job and everything that I have seen, the world doesn’t work by the model described above.
After Job receives his afflictions from the hand of Satan, Job receives visits from three friends. All of whom believe in the model above. They also believe that God would only allow Job to suffer like he was if Job was somehow guilty of evil. So they want him to identify the problem and repent. The point that is missed by many is that Job believes the same model. He just believes that he is not guilty and the God is acting unjustly. God isn’t following the model. Why doesn’t God fix it?
God finally rebukes Job for his sassy assertions and restores Job’s fortunes, but what is the message of the book? The message is this. The world is not fair and doesn’t follow the model above. We now live in a world where God has relinquished full control because of Adam and Eve’s choice to disobey God and to seek equality to God for themselves. Now the world operates with Satan having a great deal of influence over events. Satan doesn’t care one bit for humanity. So it is going to be a rough ride. That is what it means to be under “the curse”. So if things go bad, it likely is not God’s fault.
There are exceptions to this rule. God can and does intervene at times. That is what prayer is about. Normally, prayer is not for exempting us from the curse. It is more for facilitating us as we do God’s work. The curse remains in effect for Christians. This will mean illnesses, crime, persecution, natural disasters and the like. Jesus will work through his people to help, and in limited cases through direct intervention with laws of nature (i.e. a miracle). Don’t be surprised if God doesn’t fix it. Instead, understand our circumstances.
This rule of life could seem unlivable. But Satan is constrained. He has limits to what he can do and he is unlikely to give you personal attention like he did for Job. That’s good. Our other big problem is sinful nature and sin. When you look at something big like the war in Ukraine. We want God to fix it. Why is it even happening? Satan has motivated some people toward pursuing sinful ends. He keeps them blind by feeding them what seems like just rationale for what they are doing. He similarly blinds their public from knowing the truth and intervening. People believe the propaganda put out by the state because Satan facilitates it. This war is so tragic and ugly that God should fix it, right? We are not given the criteria by which God fixes a tragedy of largely human creation like a war. God certainly can do it. We can only ask and admit that we are not in position to judge God.
The Ukraine war isn’t the only war or even the ugliest. I would give Sudan the prize for ugliest ongoing conflict. Why is it worse? When humans open themselves up to depravity, we can be taken to new lows. It is shocking, even scandalizing, to see how low we can go without God stopping us.
Does God even love people if this is allowed? God’s love is only rightly measured by His level of interaction with the core problem. The core problem is the people, every one of us, is alienated from God because of our sinfulness. As such we have zero claim on God’s help or on life after death. The only thing that can fix this to God’s satisfaction is what God did himself. It was not a small thing. It was the Son of God becoming a human by choice. It was Jesus living a sinless life for 35 years. It was Jesus willingly absorbing the Father’s damnation for 3.5 hours. It was Jesus being willing to bond us to himself with the Holy Spirit. This solution will fix our lives after death. It will eventually fix the whole world once everyone who can be saved is saved. This solution results in God’s presence, strength, and comfort as we power through life’s tragedies. And yes, sometimes, if the situation is right, it allows a direct fix. It is proof that God loves humanity as a whole and God’s desire for your salvation is proof of God’s love for you. Your circumstances say nothing about whether God loves you.
Faith is not believing that God will fix things right now. It is believing that God can fix it, does love us, has given us eternal life, and knows what he is doing. Job lost his faith temporarily. I pray that you won’t. It helps to have the right model in your head. Know your situation.
