When the answer to prayer is "No"
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The apostle Paul, received a vision from God while he was in Corinth --- in answer to prayers he probably had offered up regarding his fears, and worries - in particular, for his physical safety in the face of relentless opposition to the spread of the Gospel message.
His petitions were accepted - the LORD assuring him personally that no man would lay a finger on him to hurt him.... and that is indeed what we see happening -- notwithstanding the efforts of new synagogue leadership attempting to arraign him before the civic authorities for preaching this Gospel.. (Acts 18:12-17 has the account). But what if the LORD appeared to tell Him that he would be persecuted even more? What then?
We will take a look at this issue this week, and confront the largest issue your faith will ever deal with - the reality of death, evil, and pain -- epitomized in the loss of a loved one.
It doesn't matter if the relationship was an unbreakable bond, a difficult and challenging one, or a tenuous thread limited to occasional family gatherings. We all feel something when we are told person X is no more.... grief at the loss, anger at God for allowing that to happen, a renewed reminder of our mortality... and here is the big one....
What does it mean for what we believe?
The Bible tells us that Christ has all power on heaven and earth. It tells us that if 2 are agreed and ask anything in Christs name, God will do it so that Jesus may be glorified (John 14:13-14, 16:23-26). Christ told his disciples that they had the authority to bind things in earth, and heaven. (Matt 16:19, Matt 18:18). We have not quoted the references here for brevity - so we encourage you to check them our for yourself. They are unequivocal!
Yet - even while a believing family is praying for a loved one to recover, pastors and preachers are offering words of faith and encouragement, and even prophesying/speaking recovery in His Name --- the person still dies! In other words, if we were praying to God to extend their life - the answer we got back was "No."
This is the -severest- test of faith, and requires us to open a door and go to places that we are not comfortable with, but we need to go there and face it head on --- so that's what we are going to attempt to do here... due to subject matter, this will be longer than our usual posts, but we hope you will bear with us - we guarantee it will be worth it!
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Atheists and rationalists scoff at the practice of prayer and faith - and point out examples of what we have just described as evidence that our belief in God is misplaced at best, or at worst, Delusional! ("The God Delusion" is a book by Richard Dawkins that formalizes this point of view.) We will call it the "Rational-No Hope" view... and it goes something like this.
"Rational/No Hope view" : Man is just another animal, an evolutionary accident in space-time along with the rest of the planet. There is no God, there is no underlying meaning in mans existence other the fact that he happens to exist. There are no moral laws other than the ones we make up to fit our society and culture and progress as a species. Death is a natural thing, there is no life after it - we all should just grow up as human beings and not bother our head with this religious claptrap and nonsense - its a system designed to feed off of us, by exploiting our insecurities to control and dominate us. Hope is false, and a luxury - that is fed and kept alive by occasional chance good fortune and circumstance - accidents we ignorantly ascribe to the good graces of a sovereign God. Death is a part of life, prayers are useless, science is best. ---------- we hope that covers all the major points to satisfy our atheist friends........
Deep inside every believing Christian, (if you are a thinking one), are buried these exact same fears - and they are brought to the surface when these life-ending events occur. How can a sovereign loving God deal with KILLING people in such quantities? Is there any meaning or plan behind random calamities - surely these can't be divinely ordained? We are forced to re-examine what we believe as Christians, summarized in the worldview definition below.
"Christian/Biblical/Hope view" : All events/occurrences on this planet occur under the express sovereignty of God who is all powerful. He is responsible for all the good, AND all the calamity we see here, including pain, suffering and evil - by allowing it to exist for His own sovereign purposes and glory. "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create calamity: I the Lord do all these things." - Isaiah 45:7. Death is not an end, it is a transition to a different form of life, and it is a part of God's plan. He is concerned at an individual level with each and every human on this planet, and nothing happens to His people that does not go through His filter first. His Nature is Love, and His desire is to work all things for good to them that love Him.
We will contrast this "Rational/No Hope" view with the "Christian/Biblical/Hope" view by looking at it through three perspectives.
1. What does the world and history , tell us? (Experiential truth) What are the facts?
2. What does the Word of God (Revealed Truth) tell us and how does it line up with the facts?
3. What difference does it make to our daily lives if we choose to subscribe to one view or the other? Does it make life better? Do our beliefs actually have any impact on the reality around us? Does it make more "SENSE" to believe in one or the other? What impact does believing this "delusion" have on our day to day life?
A. The Facts: Death IS a part of life, just like sun/shade, sorrow/joy, pleasure/pain, good/evil!
According to Worldometer (as of this writing) the world has a population of 7.798 Billion people, with 76 million births, and 31 million deaths , just THIS year-to-date. Of this, COVID related deaths are .5 Million and rising.
The death of a loved one is not a statistic, but the truth is, we all are going to die at some point, it is inevitable. If you look deeper at the statistics we can break the death numbers down even further....into the following categories.
Death by evil/hostile acts of humans (a unique category by itself) -&- Death by "natural causes" - death in our own body (cancers, diseases, organ failures), accidents, "force majeure" or acts of God(!) .. natural disasters, famines, plagues, wild animals, and man's own foolishness/foolhardiness ...(e.g. climbing Mt. Everest in the off season).
You can look at these stats in two ways.
From a "Rational/No Hope" perspective .... yeah ... man and animals are born and die - that's "natural".
From a "Christian/Hope" perspective - God is sovereignly responsible for every death, AND He is also the creator of every LIFE! We get mad at Him for taking away, but don't give Him credit for creating in even more quantity!
We believe the Rationalists are at a disadvantage here, because they have no explanation for the uniformity of the phenomenon of Life, and death. We see Life ending ABRUPTLY at a PRECISE MOMENT (the fact that we can identify a --time of death-- is a sure indication of the presence or absence of some "ESSENTIAL QUALITY" in ALL living things) .
The spiritual eye looks at the world around us - and sees the Spirit of God in everything that lives, moves, breathes, has its being, and understands that death is the ABSENCE of life... the departure of the divine essence, at a precise point in time, from the living being. You want to deal with death, you first have to understand what is Life...
B. The Facts : Death and Pain are necessary.
If people did not die, the world will not be able to support the growing population - this is already a global concern.... (Rationalists should agree).... so here is one reason God could have to permit it (there are others in the Word, but we are not going there yet).
Pain is a defence mechanism. If your hand didn't hurt when you stick it into a fire, you would leave it there, and watch it be charred to a crisp. It tells you when things are wrong in your body so you can seek medical help. It is an indicator of healing.
Pain also accompanies growth... ask any athlete. A good coach will knowingly submit their charges to pain and suffering to temper them and give them endurance for the game - and "level up" their stamina, endurance, and power so they can win! --- pain is not evil.. though it may seem that way! We learn through pain and suffering, growing, being tempered into steel, purged of impurities by fire, everyday being pushed into into deeper realizations of who and what we truly are.
The Word tells us disciples that pain is both a reality, and necessary for our growth.
"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."(Jn 16:33) "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:--- nevertheless afterward--- it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." (Heb 12:11)
God's plan for humanity, and individuals is to grow them in knowledge and capability, and yes, that path to growth winds through the foothills of pain and suffering.
C. Gods Word: Death and suffering in the Bible.
The LORD Himself takes responsibility for permitting death and sin to enter the world through the serpent in Genesis. We see prophets and martyrs die horrible deaths just for speaking what God would have them say... and God permitting it to happen. We see God Himself killing -- Egyptians, Canaanites, His own people in the Wilderness... and in large quantities (3000 people in one day at Mt Sinai). He can do it, because, while He IS taking their physical life, their souls are immortal and safe in His hands.
That is the one coherent story through the whole Bible (Foundational texts : Genesis, Leviticus, the Gospels, Acts, the book of Romans, Revelation) - God's plan to destroy death and restore immortality to Man. The foundations are laid in Genesis, the Law and the prophets spoke of Christ, Christ Himself testified to His death and resurrection (which is why the priests and rulers sealed the tomb), and Christ arose to proclaim the victory! Hallelujah!
The Resurrection was attested to by multiple witnesses, who had nothing to gain, and everything to lose, by standing up for what they saw with their own eyes. Paul and the apostles did not intentionally set out to spread a lie so that 2000 years later, tele-evangelists would make millions of dollars by taking "seed" money from the gullible. NONE of the apostles or early Christian martyrs --benefited in ANY material way-- from spreading a lie... on the contrary... every one of them endured being hated, reviled, persecuted, and died rather than give up on the truth!.. and the truth is this...
Death is a transition. It is why God can kill, and even though some deaths are painful, they are all transitory. It explains why He allows it, and in the books of the Bible we see that God is glorified by some deaths (Stephen, Peter, Andrew...), and why the blood of His martyrs and saints is precious in His sight. Martyrs (people who are strong in faith against the fear of death itself .... not "jihadists"...) are given special honor and privilege in His kingdom.
God Himself, as a human, died the death of an --- average, common, man - He shared that with us. Christ was crucified between two common thieves, capital punishment inflicted by Roman soliders doing their daily job. His was not an exalted martyrdom at that time.
His prayers for deliverance from this cup were met with a "NO".... and in bowing to God's will and wisdom in Gethsemane, He set an example for us to follow... trusting that God will create good out of calamity, and grow us stronger in faith.
So, if your loved ones death seems senseless, and without value, just remember, Christ's bloody footsteps are a witness that God understands what you are going through, as He has passed that way, in grieving for Lazarus, and in His own suffering.
David, a man after God's own heart, offered up prayers for the life of his infant son in sackloth and ashes in repentance for his sin. Did God forgive? Yes. Was David's prayer for the life of his son answered ... yes... with a NO! What did David do?
Once he realized that that NO was the answer, and the child had died, he anointed himself, shaved, bathed, dressed, and went to the Temple... a place he had been avoiding in his grief and shame! David realized the transitory nature of death... And he said, " While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? ---I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.---( 2 Sam 12:22-23)
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CONCLUSION
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So, from a human life perspective, is it better to have a "blind" /delusional faith... or to walk "rationally" with no hope?
This is a false question, and contains a fallacy. Our faith is not blind. It relies on experience, facts, history, proven testimony, and the Words of God as revealed to people writing across thousands of years, with no agenda other than to reveal what He has said. God's words, and prophecies, are written in advance, and confirmed by history including the Resurrection. .... But put that aside for a moment....
What difference does it really make?
If you believe you are a cosmic accident, are accountable to no one for your moral choices, and winning (materially) in this life is all that matters, there is a strong possibility that you will contribute to the quantity of human evil in this world, and lead a completely selfish life.
If you subscribe to the Christian worldview, you will realize that the relationships you have with your loved ones, are ETERNAL. You will value relationship in this life (Love your neighbor), and your loved ones, while you still can - because once they are gone - you will lose the opportunity to love or be loved by them - IN THIS LIFE. Winning in this worldview, is the relationships you will enjoy now, and forever... you will start to value PEOPLE, just as God does! That, is growing in RIGHTEOUSNESS, and is the peaceable fruit that adversity brings.
Your worldview really determines the kind of Life you will have!
Prayers are petitions, not commands. Getting two people to agree does ---not--- force the hand of God to move to automatically give you whatever you are praying for.
He is sovereign, and there are impacts and consequences that you may not be aware of at the time, which may be the reason He says NO. We pray for things which may be harmful to us. We pray to selfishly keep people alive in pain and suffering when they should enjoy eternal rest in the presence of the LORD.
His NO's keep us humble, and not arrogant - like Him! It grows our faith when we see what blossoms out of adversity, when He gives songs in the night of an individual, that bless the hearts and encourage thousands!
Flowers and grapes must be pressed to extract perfume and wine. Iron and Gold must be tempered and refined in the flame. This assurance we have... "When thou passest through the waters, --I will be with thee---; and through the rivers, --they shall not overflow thee--: when thou walkest through the fire, --thou shalt not be burned--; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego told Nebuchadnezzar - " our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. --------But if not,------------ be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."They were ready to hear yes ---or--- no!
The times are fast approaching when some of us will have to make a similar decision in the end-time. Mark of the beast or life? May God grow us, strengthen us, and give us the faith to glorify Him with our choices at that time!
Till such time, we are going to be faced with adversity, just as Job did. His wife, gave him the rational world view... "Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die." {this is the spirit that comes to us when we are grieving.} But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? ---shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? ---" : Job 2:9-10. This is why Job stands tall as a champion of faith in adversity!
We should pray. We should pray that we enter not into temptation (as in the Lord's prayer) and that we be delivered from evil... this should be our daily prayer... echoed in the Old Testament by a person called Jabez...
"And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, ' Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! ---And God granted him that which he requested."
Pray, but be strong enough to recognize God's sovereignty in His answers - just have faith that your loved ones are safe, and that there WILL be good that comes out of every circumstance, even if it is just to strengthen you to deal with the next greater wave!
Hallelujah!