“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.” (Deuteronomy 10:17-21)
“If God is great, then He cannot be good, and if God is good then He cannot be great.” The argument goes this way: If God has the power to do anything, then why does He allow a little seven-year-old girl to suffer from cancer? A God who could stop it and doesn’t might be great, but He is not good. Or it might be looked at from the opposite direction. If God is good then He would want to stop the evil and the pain, and since He doesn’t then He must not be great. He must be limited in His capacity to do that which He desires.
Facing a crisis like this, with our little granddaughter, Mya, suffering and succumbing at last to cancer, made those questions more than a theoretical exercise. They were a painful perplexity that came down like a sledgehammer. At times like that, our faith is tested and the greatness and goodness of God will either be affirmed or abandoned.
Yet, for the most part, while our faith was tested, it was triumphant, and we found God great and good even in the darkness of difficult days. True faith may wobble in doubt and still win over despair.
Scripture testifies to both the greatness and goodness of God. Jesus provided the living illustration of both! I bear witness of that reality. Today we begin a few studies concerning God’s greatness, and following those we will focus on His goodness.
No comments:
Post a Comment