Right now I'm reading the Children's Ministry lesson plan for this up-coming Sunday.
It has provoked some complicated questions . . .
This week we are teaching on Noah and the flood. It's an age-old story that anyone who passed through a Children's Ministry undoubtedly learned about. The moral of the story usually focuses on the fact that God saved Noah, so we know we can count on God. We can trust God that he provides for us. I know these things are true. I believe God is good.
so, here is my question:
Why did God need to kill all the other people on earth? I know they were not doing good things. They were evil people. But were they evil through and through, without an ounce of goodness in them? If someone does mostly evil things, does that mean they ought to be wiped off the face of the earth? Or dare I ask, if someone only does evil things, are they completely without hope? Is it even possible for a human being to only do evil things? Can human beings become so depraved that at some point they are utterly irredeemable?
I know that I myself am capable of the most atrocious of sins. In fact, I have committed many sins myself, even since waking up this morning. It's a frightening realization to discover your own sinfulness. Recently, I have discovered my own depravity. And yet, I also know that I'm indebted to God for his forgiveness and grace in my life. Each day I wake up thankful that his mercy is new every morning.
The flood is frightening to me, because I don't understand why God did it.
Were those people beyond help?
Beyond repentance?
Utterly beyond redemption?
Also, I don't understand what this says about God. I know that it shows He is a just God, whose righteous anger is provoked by our sinfulness. It shows that He has no tolerance for sin. It grieves Him so much. He cannot stand sin, and neither should I. When I discover it in my own life, I ought to crush it with the torrential rains of repentance, asking for God's mercy and walking with determination far away from sin. Unfortunately, Noah's story is not an easy one for me to swallow. God did not give those people any more chances for repentance.
Here is an example of chiaroscuro.
The story of Noah's ark is not a cheerful story. Noah and his family spent 40 days in an ark of enormous proportions with creatures of every shape, size, and smell. They lived through a one-of-a-kind natural disaster. Even the worst natural disasters (tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and electrical storms) only last a few days at high intensity before subsiding. Noah and his family coped with torrential rains that covered the face of the whole earth for almost six weeks! Meanwhile, they were fully aware that outside the safety of the ark every single living creature and human being perished in the storm.
This is a very dark, horrific story.
. . . and yet it is precisely this darkness that highlights and magnifies the light of God. Our Lord, who has no darkness in him, allowed this to happen. There must have been a reason. And that reason had to be good, righteous, pure, and holy.
This provokes another question for me:
Just out of curiosity, why did God promise to never do it again?
Usually, when I do something that's admittedly wrong, I determine that I'll never do it again. Did God decide it wasn't the best way to deal with sinful people? Is this why he determined to send his Son for us? I know God's ways are higher than mine. His decisions far better, His reasoning beyond my comprehension. I suppose God probably wouldn't get very far if every time he found a sinful, unrepentant group of people he wiped them off the face of the earth with a natural disaster. Aren't we all sinful? . . . then again, not everyone is repentant.
Does God still punish people today for their sins? Or does judgment only come at the end of time? I once heard someone say that 911 happened because of the moral depravity of Americans. I think that's bad theology. Dare I ask . . . why did God allow 911 to happen?
See how these questions tend to spiral on themselves?
The more I think about it the more complicated it gets and the more curious I become. At times, it's scary to ask questions like this. But I'm not afraid. I think it's o.k. to ask God questions. I think God can handle it. And I don't think that by the time I finish this blog, or for that matter, by the time my life is over, I'll have all the answers to these questions. In fact, I hope that God uses questions to draw me closer to him.
Ask, Seek, Knock
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7
At the end of the day, these are things I still know to be true.
Today, I am daring to ask Him why he flooded the earth, not because I think He was wrong in doing it, but because I want to know Him more. I desire to understand the ways of God. It's scary to even ask God questions like this. I'm afraid that he will respond to me the same way he answered Job. . . who are you to question me?
I'll end this conversation with the wisdom of Job:
- God is full of light. There is no darkness in Him at all.
- God is perfectly good.
- All of His actions are done in His great love, mercy, justice, and righteousness.
- God has a plan for this world and everyone in it.
Today, I am daring to ask Him why he flooded the earth, not because I think He was wrong in doing it, but because I want to know Him more. I desire to understand the ways of God. It's scary to even ask God questions like this. I'm afraid that he will respond to me the same way he answered Job. . . who are you to question me?
I'll end this conversation with the wisdom of Job:
Job
1 Then Job replied to the LORD :
2 "I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.'
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes."
Pray for me this Sunday. If one of the kids asks me why God did this, I'm not exactly sure what I would say. All I would be able to do is confirm the things I already know to be true about God. He is HOLY, RIGHTEOUS, JUST, MERCIFUL, and FULL OF LIGHT.
Maybe it would be wise to also admit that I am unsure and encourage them to ask God. After all, He's the only one who knows why he flooded the earth, while also providing for, caring for, protecting and ultimately saving Noah and his family.
