Does anyone know where the love of God goes

When the waves turn the minutes to hours?

The searches all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay

If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her.

“The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald “Gordon Lightfoot

 

Talk about, God in His mercy, Oh, if he really does exist

Why did he desert me, In my hour of need?

I truly am indeed, Alone again, naturally

“Alone Again, Naturally” Gilbert O’Sullivan

 

Once you begin to analyze the basic reasons why someone either does not believe in God, is uncertain or just uncaring about God. It is usually not science or the arguments of the age of the earth. It usually comes down to just a few hard questions of how we just cannot reconcile why or what God allows. If God is Love, then why would He allow evil to exist in the world? How could a loving God allow me to be left alone, or allow this heartache and pain?

 

…He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Eccl 3:11

 

I do not pretend to have the mind of God that I could answer these questions. But I did want to share my take or personal views of these questions and ideas. As I have discussed before, the Journey in Wisdom is a lifelong journey, not always pleasant and fun, sometimes the journey is difficult and treacherous. If you happen to get your theology from bumper stickers, millionaire television evangelists, articles or memes on Facebook, you may want to skip this step/blog of our journey.

 

Hebrews chapter 11 sometimes referred to as the “Faith chapter” or “Faith hall of fame” is a summary of personalities in the Bible that were the best of the best in their exercise of faith (“the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”). The results were different for each person. For some it was their slain blood crying out to God from the ground, for others it was the rescue of their family from a flood or becoming the father of a great nation, still, others were stoned to death, faced lions or were tortured.

 

So, if I were able to choose my faith story, it would be the one with a happy ending, not the one where I am tortured or facing lions. But the problem we all wrestle with in our experiencing God is…. we cannot totally choose our path or our ending. So, we are left with a struggle of faith that we cannot get around. We sometimes then create in our mind a view of God that is more like the genie of a magic lamp, than a God we cannot control. So, when the lions come (and they do), our blame is directed at the only one that could have stopped the madness…God.

 

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

 

As God spoke the world into existence, he distinguished elements of light and dark, he separated the waters and firmament, day from night and the various seasons. In so doing he was creating order from the void, rules from chaos. For this creation to last, the rules and order would have to stay in place and be absolute. If the rules of separation and order ended, then creation would go back to void and chaos. I do not understand the order of the universe, I only understand there is order. I do not understand the ways of God, I only understand He has ways.

 

These absolutes would have to be followed for as long as this creation exists. God himself would be subject to the absolutes as He interacts with His creation or they would not be absolutes. God set the rules and then follows these rules for His creation/kingdom building. As we are made in the image of God, the world we create has rules. As we build infrastructures and houses we hire architects and engineers to assure us that all the absolutes are taken into account before we begin. Each phase of a project is built on the foundation of the previous step. If we bypass any of these steps the finished product will fail, the bridge will fall.

 

In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:1,2

 

Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no ends. Isaiah 9:7

 

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36

 

God is continuing to build an ever-increasing kingdom, not of physical reality but of a spiritual reality. As we accept our place in His kingdom we also accept the risks. When Jesus called the disciples, their choice to follow was not without cost, each disciple eventually stood up for the kingdom, then each one, in their own way had a unique and sometimes horrifying end. The bible is a play by play book of how God continued to stay true to His own while maintaining the absolutes and building this spiritual kingdom. If we read and meditate on scripture, we can get a since of the absolutes that this spiritual kingdom is built upon.

 

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Isaiah 14:14

 

Satan crossed the line and broke the rules of creation. He is now confined to the restrictions of the absolutes. Satan is only allowed short-term freedom because the rules do not allow him to be judged until the end of the age. Satan once a part of creation, knew the absolutes, he also knew how to use Adam and Eve to create a fracture in the kingdom. Through the influence of Satan, man breaks the laws and violates the principles of creation, thus continuing the proliferation of evil in the world. Pain and suffering continue as a byproduct of this growing evil, all starting from the original fracture. God works through the absolutes to help mitigate the damage, while Satan works to thwart the rules whenever and wherever possible.

 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. Revelation 21:1

 

One day at the end of this age, this world as we know it will end. Satan will be judged, and a New Heaven and New Earth will be formed. God can once again be a daily part of all creation. Old things will be passed away, all things will be made new. This is where the Love of God goes…not just in the here and now, but also in an eternal future, a place that Jesus is continuing to prepare, where the pain and sorrows of this life will all be wiped away. Many of the personalities in the Bible described and mentioned this future kingdom:

 

Abraham – For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:10

Job – I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end, he will stand on the earth. Job 19:25

Isaiah – The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. Isaiah 11:6

Daniel -In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. Daniel 2:34

John – And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2-4

 

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 1 Corinthians 15:19

 

The roses in the window box have tilted to one side

Everything about this house was born to grow and die

“Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” Elton John/Bernie Taupin

 

Everything we experience in this life is just temporary, the high places and the low places, neither will last. There is evil in this world, we do go through heartache and pain, and sometimes feel deserted, but It was never a part of God’s original design. If we only keep our focus on this life (the here and now) we will never understand the ways of God. We have to set our focus on the bigger picture of eternity. For the love of God reaches out to us, and takes all the fractures of this life, while preparing us for a greater eternity.

 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

 

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9