Heavenly Love

Why does God allow innocent people to suffer?  Why doesn’t He intervene when He has to power to?

So Adam and Eve are strolling in the garden, tempted by the serpent, choose to sin, and God doesn’t intervene.  He lets them make their sinful choice, even though their choice causes pain and death to others.

Cain gets mad, kills Abel, and God doesn’t intervene.  He lets Cain make his sinful choice—even though the choice causes pain and death to another.

As a matter of fact, God makes a habit out of NOT intervening when people make sinful choices, even when those choices hurt others and even cause death.

Jesus’ miracles—they’re not really interventions either.  He takes the results of sin and fixes it.

So where does the idea come from that gives a person the expectation that God will intervene and save?

I mean, why bother praying for the hurting if God has already determined to allow the results of sin to play out without intervention? 

Because there is intervention, it’s just after the fact.  He won’t be a puppet-master, so he won’t interfere with the choice, but He will cushion the blow after the choice has been made.  Adam and Even sinned, but God provided a way for reconciliation.  Cain killed Abel, but God provided a safe haven for him.  Abraham and Sarah usurped God’s plan for a son, and God cared for Ishmael.

The choices made, the choices of the “evil people” in the world, are allowed.  Because they are sons and daughters of God.  And they were given the choice to follow or rebel.  They chose rebellion, and their choices hurt other people, and their choices hurt God.  But God-given free-will doesn’t mean that He allows you to choose your own path only when it doesn’t hurt other people.  For some crazy, inexplicable reason, He has allowed us to choose our paths, hurt each other, hurt Him; and He won’t stop us because it’s our choice. 

When “evil people” hurt “innocent people”, God doesn’t only feel sadness for the injustice done to the innocent person.  The “evil” one is also His child, whom He loved and died for.  And as he counts the tears and feels the pain of the injured party, he also desires with all his Heart that His rebellious child will turn in repentance toward Him.

It’s not easy thinking this way.  I don’t want to expose the humanity of those who do evil, or God’s love for them.  I don’t want to love them.  I want to hate them for what they do.  I want to keep them at a distance from me.  I don’t want to think of them as babies with mothers who loved them or children who maybe had bad things happen to them.

Father, I know what You are telling me; I know that You want all people to be reconciled to You.  That if those who have hurt me would turn to You, ask for Your forgiveness and trust in Your Son, that you would lovingly embrace them.  And if they don’t, it will give You no pleasure, but great pain, to dispense justice to the rebellious.

In either case, forgiveness is through You, as is justice.

Father, pry my hands loose of the hate and feelings of injustice that I cling to.  Hold me close, so that I will hold tight only to You.  And keep me from the sin of pride, thinking that I am better than the “evil” ones; after all, I am the rebellious child too.