Though it amazes us when God spins the straw of sin into the gold of redemption, we have to guard against this point getting twisted. On the one hand, Paul reminds us: “Some people are actually trying to put such words in our mouths, claiming that we go around saying, ‘The more evil we do, the more good God does, so let’s just do it!’ That’s pure slander, as I’m sure you’ll agree” (Romans 3:8 The Message). On the other hand, Christians sometimes offer strange condolences to those suffering loss, “It was God’s will,” or even worse, “It was God’s punishment.” This strikes me as a misjudgment of the Lord.
Just because God can redeem evil into something good doesn’t mean that the Lord purposely visits pain on us in order to “teach us a lesson.” Moreover, sin does just fine creating its own punishing fallout without God having to strike us with lightning to make the point.
God disdains manipulation. The Lord won’t be fooled if we try to work divine compassion to our advantage. Neither will God stoop to such petty techniques to trap us into a divine alliance.
Yet, God’s ways still seem strangely foreign to us. In our world, manipulators seem to thrive. That God rejects this use of divine power should draw our attention. How many humans voluntarily abstain from utilizing every power they can muster to arrive at their goals? When politicians and people in positions of influence in our culture have their way because of what they can get away with, we don’t like it but accept it as normal.
Perhaps that’s why we’re tempted to blame God when bad things happen. We’re so used to humans vying for control that we can’t imagine Someone with power not wielding it.
When we witness God helping us to embrace, rather than simply erasing the consequences of the world’s fallen existence, we begin to detect how carefully our Lord refrains from micromanaging our affairs in order not to manipulate us. A God like this only intervenes in our lives to heal – never to harm us. The Lord’s only angle is love for us.
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