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The GO Zone:Why?
by Dave Weiss (Dave's bio)
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I know I promised my readers the second part of the Jonah story, and it will be coming soon, but the events of the day have changed my way of thinking and I feel that I must write on this. Just over a year ago, terrorists used airplanes as weapons of mass destruction and killed thousands of people. This past week another reign of terror came to an end as John Alan Muhammed and John Lee Malvo were arrested as the Washington Snipers. Both of these situations leave a whole lot of questions but they can really be summed up in one simple word, why?
Now before anyone gets overly excited here, I must tell you that if you think I am going to give you the reasons why these people did these things, you are mistaken because the truth of the matter is I cannot fathom it. Every time I see the photo of Muhammed and Malvo together on that couch looking like an all-American father and son, I face disbelief in how those two men could have (allegedly) perpetrated such atrocities. Other than giving the broad statement that this was caused at least in part by the enemy of our souls, I have no explanation.
No, the why that I want to deal with is the why that some people will ask you as you go out to share your faith. Why did God allow this to happen? Why did God allow all of these people to be cut down in their prime? The truth of the matter is this is an age old question and one that we will not fully understand until we stand before the Lord. But here's what I have surmised. We serve a God full of mercy. We serve a God who gave us a way to eternal life at the cost of His own Son. We serve a God who put His people in the world guided by His Holy Spirit to tell every single person how to find that eternal life in Jesus. It is His will that none should perish. He loves us all and wants nothing but the best for us.
The answer to why these horrible things happen is found in that mercy. The God who gave us free will to choose whether to do good or evil, is above all things, merciful. He does not strike us dead at the second we choose to do evil, were that the case there would be none of us left. He gives us the opportunity to repent. The same mercy that provides the opportunity for repentance is the mercy that allows people to choose sin. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. This makes life very unpredictable. That very unpredictability is the reason that Christians must be about the business of sharing and spreading the Good News. In a world that looks so hopeless, hope is found in Christ alone. Christ is our hope not just for eternity but for the right now. I am continually asking another, “why?” Why didn't someone reach these people who do these horrible things with the Gospel? There is no time to lose...GOOOO!
Copyright 2002, Dave Weiss. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About Dave Weiss: Dave Weiss is pastor of New Creation Fellowship, Reading, PA ( http://members.truepath.com/newcreation ). He is a member of the Write Group for Interlinc's Youth Leader's Only, a youth ministry resource. He has written Radically Real: The Quest for Authenticity. For more on Dave's Ministry go to http://www.radicallyreal.com
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