Shaken But Not Defeated

An entry made on my Facebook page in response to the evil act of a single man taking 69 lives and injuring 527 in Las Vegas said this...

Freewill is such awful violence when carried out by an awful, godless, broken, and violent, person.  Lord have mercy on us!!!

We can choose to believe there is no God.  We can choose to believe there is.  We choose whether or not to be a good citizen, or not.  We make choices everyday based on our beliefs, what we believe is truth to us.  And for the majority of people, our choices are 'good', do no harm (in the larger scheme of life and living), allowing us and those around us to live unfettered, unencumbered lives with respect to our actions and choices.

But as we learned in this recent event, evil needs no army to devastate families, friends, or a nation.

For we who choose to believe in God, and there are many highly intelligent, more brilliant people than me who do, we have come to understand that our God isn't a tyrant, nor does He desire to create 'robots of obedience that seemingly stand against our alignment with freedom' (an oversimplification of what many may think when they ponder the 'rules' Christians seem to profess and have 'the world' hold to).  

From the very beginning, with God's creation of man and woman, He gave us the right and freedom to make our own choices (freewill).  They (the first man and woman) chose to disobey.  The cost was very high and God killed animals to provide clothing to cover their 'nakedness' (the leaves they made covering for themselves were not enough).  The cost of freewill escalated quickly eventually allowing the murder of one of their children by another of their children.  Oh my, my statement holds true even for that act of Cain making the choice to kill his brother Abel in jealous response to Abel's acceptable worship and God not accepting Cain's.

What many of us have come to understand is that our God, even when we made (or make) poor, evil choices made (makes) provision to allow restoration to favor with Him.  And for those choosing not to be restored, because of His justice, He would banish them from favor not because of His choice, but theirs.  You see, He would never force us to relationship with Him, His desire is that we would choose to be in relationship with the God who created us in His image.  Yes, we bear the image of the most powerful, holy God when we are in complete relationship with Him, like His Son, Jesus was.

I smile and even laugh a bit at myself when I go back and read my first entries in this blog.  It has always been my desire to use writing as the 'art' that would cause people to think and come to the same conclusion I have, that these footprints and faith might speak clearly about how and why it makes sense to me to be in a relationship with my God potentially desiring to have you and others do some 'exploration' yourself.  And quite frankly, I think I was too full of myself in the years leading up to this, hopefully, wonderful turning point, today.

There has ALWAYS been great evil in the world, evil relegated from the selfish freewill of people making very poor choices.  What we also find interesting is that our God can hold back evil and even prevent it from happening when His people choose to look to Him for that protection.  But when His people stop looking to Him for truth, evil abounds, and the result is devastating to humanity.

Even when I think about the local wildfires consuming houses and lives in California I see God trying to show us the cost of freewill and poor choices, for it was someone, somewhere, who started each fire.  Hurricanes, and all the 'acts of nature' that seem to be costing us as well, are forms of God speaking, trying to get our attention as evil and hard times press us.  

In whom will we put our trust?  Who or what will protect us?  Laws?  Government?  People?

As I ponder the continual, unstopping evil that relentlessly attacks our days, I am reminded of the writer of Hebrews in the Bible, yes, out of the book that so many of us look to for evidence of our God working in and through people of history and predictor of what our future will look like as well.  

It says in Hebrews chapter 13...

²⁵ See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷ This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom (We believers have already received it!) that cannot be shaken (we will be saved), and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire.

God is trying to get our attention, we, in relationship with Him, believe.  He is shaking things up and we believers need to take note and listen.  We need to cling to that which cannot be shaken, our God and His kingdom work.  We need to follow Him and offer acceptable worship which Abel offered and Cain needed to respond in humility and brokenness rather than in anger and jealousy.  

For those who choose not to believe, understand that it isn't you who are causing such evil, unless you choose to give into the evil desires that cause heinous actions as terrorists or those seeking destruction of humanity or property undeserving of your horrible choice.  For our God is a consuming fire in the face of evil.  Be warned.  I'm not the one saying this.  It is who He is.

It is He who has given us, from the very beginning, freewill.  Freewill allows individuals and groups choice day by day, moment by moment; choice(s) that can be made in relationship with our Creator, or not.  For ALL of us who are sane, reasonable, healthy people, we just can't understand the violent, senseless act of a man with a rifle shooting at innocent concert attending people of all ages below him.  But he made his choice and exercised his freewill, and God let him.

No, I cannot explain fully why God allowed it, but I do know for certain that for each person who perished, their eternal destiny remained unaffected by their loss of life that day or were it to occur at a time in the future.  There were many acts of heroism that evening some even costing those who tried to help their lives while others actually saved lives along with their own.  For those of us with healthy minds, we cannot come to terms with or understanding of why anyone would choose to do this terrible act of violence, and these acts seem to be on the rise.  Yet just like many who attended the concert, we shouldn't walk in fear that our lives may be required of us in a moment, but choose to live it to the full and enjoy every moment we are given.  And for we who trust and believe in God and are left standing in the wake of evil, we are shaken but not defeated.