When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

When life doesn’t make sense, we often make foolish and rash decisions. It is in this moment that we begin to doubt what we have always believed. We doubt our worth, our beliefs, our faith in God, and, most detrimental to our well-being, we doubt God’s love for us. We doubt that God is there working in ways that we cannot see. We always believed, but now we doubt. Why not doubt? Things are not adding up. Things are not working out. We are facing dead ends, and we have difficulty finding our way.

However, it is precisely in these moments that we need to trust God--in the very moments when he seems faraway. When he appears to be ignoring our prayers--in these times, we walk by faith and not by sight.

The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk also had questions: Does He really love us? Does he care what happens to us? Is he there? Does He answer prayer, especially our prayers? How can He be holy and tolerate such sin in the world, and especially in his own people? If He is a God of justice, why doesn’t He punish sinners? (Habakkuk 1:1-3).

Habakkuk questioned God’s methods. They certainly made no sense to him. They seemed to conflict with what he knew about God. He asked God, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (Habakkuk 1:13-14). Habakkuk had the same problem we do. He did not understand God, nor did he comprehend what he was doing. It certainly wasn’t the way he would have done things.

Habakkuk, though he did not understand God’s ways, decided to wait for an answer from God. God did answer, “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay (Habakkuk 2:2-3). This was not what Habakkuk was expecting, but it was an answer. In fact, it was what we are all supposed to do when we are confused or disappointed. We are to wait for God—He will speak. This is faith, and this is what faith does—it waits for God.

Habakkuk tells us the secret of living for God, “but the righteous will live by his faith—“. This phrase inspired the Apostle Paul, who referred to it in his letter to the Romans.  It is the way we live for God day by day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Absurdity of Doing The Same Thing…

The absurdity of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is beyond comprehension. This happens in people’s lives, organizations, and governments. 

Having the ability to see what is going on before it actually happens is a rare gift; it is called insight. Winston Churchill had the insight to see that Hitler was a dictator intent on conquering the world. At the same time, Hitler appeared to people like Charles Lindbergh and Lady Astor as a gifted world leader. Lady Astor hated Churchill for his criticisms of Hitler, so once she said to him, “If you were my husband, I would put arsenic in your tea.” Churchill responded, “If I were your husband, I would drink it.” There were plenty in the world media who praised Stalin for his transformation of the Soviet Union while ignoring the atrocities that were so common. They said that Stalin was a man of the people who really cared about lasting and meaningful change.

George Orwell saw through the lies and deception of the purported utopia of Communism by Comrade Stalin before most of the world did. Orwell wrote an allegory of what Stalin’s Communism really was in the short book, Animal Farm. It was published in 1945, though it could have been published earlier; publishers were afraid to do so.

The book describes a rebellion led by a pig named Napoleon, who took over the farm owned by Mr. Jones. Napoleon made many wonderful promises to the animals—all animals would be equal; all animals would have an equal share. Life would be better on Animal Farm now that Napoleon was in charge. But, life didn’t turn out to be too good for the animals—except for Napoleon, of course, and the rest of the pigs and his dogs who served as his guards. Napoleon took care of himself and frequently changed the rules to benefit himself and his fellow pigs. I highly recommend the book because it is relevant to what we see happening around us today, with the fascination with Socialism and Communism.

Socialism and Communism order everyone to be, act, and think alike. They do not tolerate any diverse thought. Totalitarians always have a strawman—someone who is responsible for the chaos. For Hitler, it was the Jews; for Stalin, it was the wealthy, educated classes. Their arrows are pointed at someone. Anyone who does not endorse and affirm everything they espouse is targeted and harassed, and even harmed. Search the world over, and you will not find a country with a better justice system or less prejudice than the United States. Yet, there are people intent on overthrowing our system of government. This revolution is about Napoleon and his fellow henchmen taking over the farm. Napoleon will constantly change the rules and lie to his followers. Still, it’s the animals that really get hurt —and it’s we, the ordinary people, who are losing our freedoms.