The judgments of God are everywhere By Robin Schumacher, Exclusive Columnist for Christian Post
Pick your tragedy – a terrorist attack, an awful weather incident, a major health crisis like COVID, an economic collapse – and it’s a good bet that right after it occurs, you’ll get the clichéd stream of the, “where was God?” question. Behind it, if we’re to be honest, is an angry attitude directed at the Creator of, “we don’t deserve this!”
Not so fast.
Believe me, I get the irate confusion that comes from looking into the eyes of a small child at St. Jude who’s just been diagnosed with leukemia or the exasperated feelings of powerlessness that arise when a loved one who’s a joy to everyone is killed by a drunk driver. My goal here today is not to address the issue of theodicy which I’ve already done several times (see here, here, and here).
Now is your chance to support Gospel News Network.
We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
I’m certainly not saying every bad thing that happens is a particularly directed divine judgment handed down to us. However, I would like to reverse the question of, “why do bad things happen to good people?”, to have you think instead about, “why do good things happen to anyone?” Given our historical track record, we deserve judgment far more than we deserve blessings.
And when it comes to judgment, God doesn’t seem to be nearly as concerned as some Christians in trying to extricate Himself from terrible events. Instead, He tells us clearly in His word: “I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these” (Is. 45:6-7).
Throughout Scripture, there are both clear and subtle examples of God’s judgment, some of which you may have missed.
For instance, the parables of Jesus – they aren’t the supposed “sermon illustration” many people think, but rather a form of a judgment given immediately after Israel formally rejected Christ as their Messiah (see Matt. 13:10-15).
Or take the miracle gift of tongues. They aren’t at all what many portray them to be today, but rather are a judgment given by God to unbelievers and God-rejectors as Is. 28:10-13 and 1 Cor. 14:20-22 spell out.
Today, I think it’s easy to make the case that both large and small judgments of God are everywhere, but we’re too dull to notice or afraid to admit it. Let me provide just a couple of examples.f
So you want a king?
The book of 1 Samuel tells the story of how Israel rejected God as their King and instead demanded that a human monarch rule over them. You’d imagine that God would reject their request, right?
