Denton County Living Well Magazine Fall 2014 | Page 13

writes, “We live in a world with two parts, one part that
we can see and one part that we cannot.” Eldredge says
we should live as though the unseen world (the rest of
reality) is, in fact, weightier and more real and more dangerous than the part of reality we can see.
We see war in the Middle East, children coming across
the border, Ebola, planes blown out of the sky, and a
government who lies and hides. Yet the battle that rages
for the hearts and lives of men is greater. This is where
darkness verses light, evil verses good, and hate verses
love.
I had a conversation once with a friend who is a professed atheist. He said, “What kind God sits on a cloud
and orders men to love Him or condemns them to hell.”
He saw God as some kind of arrogant dictator. He was
angry at the plan of God, but he didn’t understand the
plan. God hasn’t demanded our love, He didn’t come to
judge or condemn us. He holds out love like a marriage
proposal and gives us the opportunity to choose. My
friend explained he knew many good people who didn’t
know God, why wouldn’t they be allowed in heaven. “I
don’t want to enter an unregenerate eternity,” I said.
I need someone greater than myself to fully heal me
so that if we live next door to each other, I can’t hurt
you and you can’t hurt me. I believe God provided that
through Christ.
God will only allow the suffering of this fallen world
to last for a time. There’s an enemy behind much of the
evil we see perpetrated by men and he knows his time is
short. God will come back and set things right. 2 Peter 3:
9 says, The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow
about what He promises, according to some people’s
conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient), not desiring that any should perish,
but that all should turn to repentance. And, He promises
He’ll make Himself known to all men, so that men are
without excuse.
First, there’s more going on than meets the eye; we
have an eternal hope. Second, we have an immediate
hope. I was heartbroken for my friend and her mom. I
prayed with her believing that God is able and willing
to heal. I asked God to be near to them, wrap His arms
around them and give them peace. God has been so near
to me in my personal suffering that I knew if they would
trust Him, if they would open their heart to Him, He
would be near to them too. He’s not a far off distant God

who can’t identify with our struggles. That’s the beauty
of God’s story in sending His son. We have someone who
understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same
tests we do, yet he did not sin. So we come boldly to the
throne of grace and receive mercy for our failures, and
grace to help us when we need it most. That’s who God is.
Christa Black Gifford said, “If you are not anchored in
the goodness of God you will lower your theology to equal
your pain.” He’s not far off, He’s intimately and deeply
involved in the affairs of men. He sees everything. He
knows when a sparrow falls to the ground. His power is
limitless and so is His love!
It may appear as if things are spinning out of control
but God is still in complete control. Worldly hope is wishful thinking; Biblical hope is the certain expectation of
the reality of God’s blessings. They’re all around. He
lavishes them on us so we can hold them out to a world
without hope, dying and in need.
With Christ there’s hope. This hope is a strong and
trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the
curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Hebrews 6: 19 And
there in His presence, I can ask God honest questions. I
gain His heart on injustice, pain and suffering.
Sometimes my understanding and perspective are
off. The disciples thought Jesus’ death was the end of
all things. They saw an empty tomb rather than a resurrected King who had literally just conquered death for
th