Crime & Punishment II

Bronx Zoo.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

For He will command His angels concerning you, to

guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up

in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot 

against a stone.

Psalm 91:11-12 

The providence and protection of God is not an easy topic.  Many people feel that when you become a Christian, all you have to do is pray for God's protection and you are shielded from any and all evil and mishap. That's a lovely thought, but it is neither truth nor reality.  I can think of an entire list of cases where people who are dedicated to God have lost their lives, or had horrible mishaps - and I don't think any of them happened because they didn't have enough faith, or forgot to pray that morning.   

When dealing with the protection of God, one can explore the topic from several different angles:

• God deliberately sends trouble
• God allows trouble to happen
• God withdraws His protective hand and lets evil take its course
• There are natural events that happen that God does not interfere with. 

I categorically reject the idea that God deliberately sends trouble.  The Bible clearly states that God tempts no man with evil.  Jesus said to Thomas and the other disciples, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father."  So let's look at Jesus as the mirror of God:  He never brought evil on anyone.  When a Samaritan village was rude to Christ, James and John asked Him if they should call down fire from heaven and destroy them.  Did Jesus agree and say, "Have at it"?  No.  The Bible says that He rebuked the two men and they moved on to another village.  No, I do not believe that God deliberately sends havoc or destruction on anyone.

 

So, if He doesn't send it, does He tacitly allow it?  Hmmm... that's an interesting question.  God is, after all, omni- everything: Omnipotent [unlimited power], Omnipresent [being present everywhere at once], Omniscent [having total, unlimited understanding, knowledge, and awareness; perceiving all things], and Omnibenevolent [unlimited goodness].  If He is all these things, how could He possibly turn His back and pretend He does not know what is happening?  The answer is simple: He can't.