It's a "Good" Life. That was the title of one of the most bone chilling episodes of The Twilight Zone that I ever watched. If you haven't seen it then stop reading right now and look it up! You can find it on YouTube.
Ok, welcome back! Ok so Anthony is the very substance of a parents nightmares. A being able to create of destroy at desire and unteachable. What do people do in reaction to him? They blur their thoughts and do what they can not to think and they go through every day saying "Isn't it 'good'?" when it is clearly NOT good.
I was sitting with a friend of mine in the middle of Duncan Donuts while she did some business over Skype. While I was waiting I pulled out my Kobo and began reading my way through the Didache (the earliest written book on the teachings of the Apostle's outside the New Testament). One of the primary statements that stood out was the authors statement of "accept all things that happen as good for nothing happens unless God allows it". That is a hard pill to swallow...
How do we say that all things are "good"? Is it not obvious that there is in fact evil in the world and that evil things happen? Of course there is. When I read the command for declaring all things "good", I found myself thinking back to Anthony. How many Christians live as if God is like that demonic little 6-year-old who could read minds? Going around saying that everything is "all good" or that they are "too blessed to be depressed" despite the agonizing weight of struggle and stress that is currently weighing upon their minds? Is the author stating that we should numb ourselves to the darkness of the world or that we should "fake it till we make it"? I don't think that this is the case.
The command to accept all that happens as "good" under the understanding that nothing happens without God is not denying that there is evil or that evil things occur. I think that there is significance to the command and it is not just going through life lying about one's circumstance. Instead we recognize that God is not a puppet master or just dishing out blessings or wrath for the sake of dishing out blessings or wrath! There is purpose in what happens.
Additionally, I do not believe that God is causing all things that happen to happen. He allowed for sin to come into the World and to reek havoc, but it is not the same as causing bad things to occur. God does, however, use evil and tragedy to to display His glory and to do great things! We do not numb ourselves to the pain and the reality of evil around us, but instead we take joy in the awesome power of God and rest in the knowledge that He is love; that He sees us and knows all that was, is, and will be. We look to the future with faith, hope, and trust in God that He will always act according to His nature, His superior knowledge, and His flawless logic.
For those who have been redeemed and are now a part of the Church, should we not expect good things from the God we love and serve? The One who has us call Him Father and King? Indeed. Additionally, He has proven Himself to be good. He is not just the "most good", be He is the very definition of what "good" is.
God is good, not because He does "good things", but instead what God does is "good" because God did them. Unlike little Anthony, God is love and He is full of compassion, understanding, and is without the flaws of a sinful, human soul. We can rejoice that we do not serve a tyrant that oppresses, but instead we serve a King who serves and leads His creation with grace, mercy, justice, and understanding.
Peace be with you,
Stephen
Ok, welcome back! Ok so Anthony is the very substance of a parents nightmares. A being able to create of destroy at desire and unteachable. What do people do in reaction to him? They blur their thoughts and do what they can not to think and they go through every day saying "Isn't it 'good'?" when it is clearly NOT good.I was sitting with a friend of mine in the middle of Duncan Donuts while she did some business over Skype. While I was waiting I pulled out my Kobo and began reading my way through the Didache (the earliest written book on the teachings of the Apostle's outside the New Testament). One of the primary statements that stood out was the authors statement of "accept all things that happen as good for nothing happens unless God allows it". That is a hard pill to swallow...
How do we say that all things are "good"? Is it not obvious that there is in fact evil in the world and that evil things happen? Of course there is. When I read the command for declaring all things "good", I found myself thinking back to Anthony. How many Christians live as if God is like that demonic little 6-year-old who could read minds? Going around saying that everything is "all good" or that they are "too blessed to be depressed" despite the agonizing weight of struggle and stress that is currently weighing upon their minds? Is the author stating that we should numb ourselves to the darkness of the world or that we should "fake it till we make it"? I don't think that this is the case.The command to accept all that happens as "good" under the understanding that nothing happens without God is not denying that there is evil or that evil things occur. I think that there is significance to the command and it is not just going through life lying about one's circumstance. Instead we recognize that God is not a puppet master or just dishing out blessings or wrath for the sake of dishing out blessings or wrath! There is purpose in what happens.
Additionally, I do not believe that God is causing all things that happen to happen. He allowed for sin to come into the World and to reek havoc, but it is not the same as causing bad things to occur. God does, however, use evil and tragedy to to display His glory and to do great things! We do not numb ourselves to the pain and the reality of evil around us, but instead we take joy in the awesome power of God and rest in the knowledge that He is love; that He sees us and knows all that was, is, and will be. We look to the future with faith, hope, and trust in God that He will always act according to His nature, His superior knowledge, and His flawless logic.
For those who have been redeemed and are now a part of the Church, should we not expect good things from the God we love and serve? The One who has us call Him Father and King? Indeed. Additionally, He has proven Himself to be good. He is not just the "most good", be He is the very definition of what "good" is.God is good, not because He does "good things", but instead what God does is "good" because God did them. Unlike little Anthony, God is love and He is full of compassion, understanding, and is without the flaws of a sinful, human soul. We can rejoice that we do not serve a tyrant that oppresses, but instead we serve a King who serves and leads His creation with grace, mercy, justice, and understanding.
Peace be with you,
Stephen
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