But By Your Endurance…
“I don’t believe in God because of all the bad things in the world.”
How many times have you heard this sentence? Or its sister, “I stopped believing in God because of all the bad things in this world.”
It’s a pretty common objection to God and Christianity in particular. And, on the surface, it makes sense. We Christians like to go around preaching the goodness of our God, and yet one small glimpse of the world shows us the opposite: things are not good. In fact, most of the time, they are pretty doggone awful. If God is so good, why are there things like disease, divorce, or murder? Why is there lying, betrayal, pain, rejection, and loneliness? Why do kids die young, families break apart, and countless others spend their days suffering?
It’s a great question, and one that does not have an easy answer. We could speak for days about the brokenness of this world and the fallen nature of man, which has left nothing unsullied. We could talk about the mysterious sovereignty of God and the fact that He can (and does!) work all things ultimately for our good and His glory.
But, no matter how true, these are still hard sentiments to swallow when faced with personal pain.
Yet, while I can understand why an atheist might take umbrage at the seeming dichotomy of the world’s evil and God’s goodness, it’s a little bit harder to reconcile Christians facing the same struggle. However, this seems to be all the rage: believers leaving the faith because of the evil they are witnessing in the world around them.
Again, part of me understands this: the world is a mess. But a larger part of me is flabbergasted.
Flabbergasted because Jesus Himself told his followers they should not only not be surprised by evil in this world–they should expect it.
In Luke 21, we hear Jesus talk the coming age: “Nation will be raised up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be violent earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven.” (Luke 21: 10-11)
Pretty terrible, right? It gets worse. Jesus goes on:
“…they will lay your hands on you and persecute you…you will even be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will kill some of you. You will be hated by everyone because of my name.” (Luke 21:12a-17)
Not only are things in the world going to get bad; your life as a believer will also be hard.
God is good, yes, but there is zero reason for us as believers to expect the world to be a good place as well. Jesus spoke of coming hardships, and this truth was echoed by several New Testament writers such as Timothy and Paul. Bad things happen in this world because they are supposed to happen this side of heaven. As humans with sinful hearts who have been given free will, there is simply no other outcome to be expected. And yet to use humanity’s choices as a reason to walk away from God, the One who warned us all that this was going to happen in the first place?
Why?
But, before you accuse me of being heartless, rest assured I do understand. It’s one thing to speak about evil or hardship in an abstract sense; it’s quite another to speak of it personally. When you are struggling through a broken heart, the prophesy of said adversity brings little comfort, and the goodness of God can seem a lot smaller or more distant than the badness of this world.
So, friends, if that’s you right now, can I offer a word of encouragement? Because, not only did Jesus promise affliction; He also promised hope. At the end of His rather depressing speech about coming tribulations, He offers this one small sentence:
“By your endurance, gain your lives.” (Luke 21:19)
Yes, there will be pain. There will be suffering. There will be hardships. There will be bad things in this world. But if you, in your faith, endure, there is also life. Don’t walk away from God because of evil you witness or experience; cling to Him. Hold fast to what you know is true about Who He is, even if every fiber of your being is screaming otherwise. Endure the trials, the tests, the heartbreaks by never taking the eyes off the One who never takes His eyes off you. Your faith may be battered, bruised, broken, hanging by a thread, but if you endure, you will gain your lives. You will gain unexplainable peace, comfort, and strength. You will gain His Holy Spirit, which will never leave you. You will gain a love that never breaks, bends, or fades away. You will gain a closeness to Your creator, Who will enable you to see things through His eyes, not your own.
You will gain an eternal spot in His house, where all the troubles of this world will cease to be.
Hold on, friends.
Expect bad things in this world.
But also expect rewards from your Father if you don’t fall away because it.
Endure…and gain your lives.
