Japan. Is God Loving or is He All-Powerful?

A copy of a Japanese painting from Google Images.

Last week I had a blast writing all about our fun vacation.  But when I look at our sunny beach pictures with the tame and cheerful ocean in the background I am also solemn.  I can't help but think about Japan, and their ravaged shorelines, and their pain.  

Sitting here in my safe, cozy little world it's hard for me to imagine the terror and horror they have experienced during these past 10 days.  One disaster right after another.   

This kind of devastation captures the attention of the whole world.  We stop in our tracks.  We shudder.  Our hearts flood with compassion.  And fear.  We ask, "Why?"  Why does God allow things like this to happen?  What is God doing?!   

Last week MSNBC interviewed a Michigan pastor about a controversial book he recently wrote.  But MSNBC host Martin Bashir opened the interview with a surprising question that had nothing to do with the book at all.  

"Before we come to talk about the book, just help us with this tragedy in Japan," he said.  "Which of these is true?  Either God is all-powerful, and He doesn't care about the people in Japan (and therefore their suffering); or He does care about the people of Japan but He is not all-powerful.  Which one is it?"

I realize this is a mighty big question to address in a little blog post.  Entire books have been dedicated to this subject.  But ever since I heard that question it's been echoing in my head because I think it's a question a lot of people have asked. And as I have watched the videos and seen the pictures and read the articles about all that's been happening in Japan, I have been digesting it all slowly.  

I obviously can't speak for God about what He is doing in Japan, or why.  I don't know.  No one knows the complete answer.  

But there are some things I definitely do know.  

I know that answer to the question above isn't either/or.  

It's both/and.  

God is love.  And He is all-powerful.  

He is love.  He definitely cares about the people of Japan, and their suffering.  God loves the people of Japan.  

He is all-powerful.  He allowed that great earthquake to shake their country.  He knew the horrific ensuing chain of events it would trigger.  He could have stopped it.  He is all-powerful.  But He didn't.

Why?

We don't know, fully.

But we do know, from the Bible, the following.

3 Things We Know About the Immediate Picture

1.) God is mourning with Japan.  When Lazarus died in John 11 and Jesus saw the pain and sorrow that suffering and death brought to Lazarus' sisters Mary and Martha and all of their friends, the Bible tells us that Jesus "groaned in His spirit and was troubled."  And then, that "He wept."  When God sees people suffering and mourning, it breaks His heart.  God cares deeply about the chaos and pain that is going on in Japan, and around the world.

 

2.) God has not abandoned believers in Japan.  He is with the Christians in Japan.  He hasn't left them alone, even though right now I'm sure it feels to some of them like He has.  When disaster strikes, God never abandons his children. 

"...I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5

3.) God offers real comfort, healing, hope and life! to anyone who will accept it.  He is holding it out to all of the people who are hurting right now in Japan, and to us as well.  It's up to each one of us to accept it.

"I am the resurrection and the life.  

He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  

And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  

Do you believe this?"  

John 11:25,26

God often uses great tragedies to draw us to Himself.  It seems ironic, but sometimes it takes an epic demonstration of God's power for us to wake up and realize that He is love; that He is near, and that we need Him.  We are a stubborn, proud human race.  But pain can strip away our pride and prompt us to reach out to God.  

The moment we do that we find wise, strong, loving arms waiting to comfort us and carry us to safety. 

3 Things We Know About the Big Picture

1.) It didn't have to be this way.  When God created our world for us it was perfect.  It was good.  There was no danger of earthquakes, volcanoes or tsunamis.  It was a safe, beautiful home.  

We (mankind) screwed it up by choosing sin's way over God's way.  Adam and Eve disobeyed God; they ate the forbidden fruit and as a result God cursed the earth.  He cursed the very ground (Genesis 1:16-19).  He is loving and He is all-powerful.  He is also just.  The punishment for sin is death; so because we are sinful, death, and earthquakes, and disasters wreak havoc on this earth.  God hates sin, and, unpleasant as it is to think about, He is going to punish the world, and all of the people who refuse to accept His forgiveness, for their sin.

2.) God uses everything that happens to accomplish an ultimate, greater good.  This is something my pastor talked about in church yesterday, preaching about Joseph.  We can't always see what God is doing...we definitely can't right now when we look at Japan...but we can bank on the fact that He is using everything that happens for His good purpose.

"But as for you, you meant evil against me; 

but God meant it for good..."

Genesis 50:20

3.) The chaos in our world won't last forever.  There really is an "end of the world" coming.  Tragedies like this are shocking, but not surprising.  God already warned us about this earthquake.  It's a sign that the end is getting closer.  I had to  re-read Mark 13 when I first heard about everything that was going on last week.

"And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, 

do not be troubled; for such things must happen,

but the end is not yet.

For nation will rise against nation, 

and kingdom against kingdom.

And there will be earthquakes in various places,

and there will be famines and troubles.

These are the beginning of the birth pains."

Mark 13:7,8

Verse 8 is more poignant to me than ever before since I just had a baby seven months ago.  There have always been horrible things going on in the world.  But it definitely seems like the "birth pains" are getting stronger and closer together.  The big event will come!  Jesus is coming back!!  He has promised us that He will come back and make things right at last.  There will be a new heaven and a new earth.  The pain and confusion and horror we are seeing in the news will not last forever.  

But in the meantime, before He comes, those contractions are just going to keep on coming.  And they will come stronger.  We are going to see more earthquakes and disasters in our world; disasters even worse than what just happened in Japan. It's not a cause for panic, but a cause for sobriety.

"Watch, therefore, for you do not know what hour 

the master of the house is coming -

in the evening, at midnight, 

at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning -

Lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.  

And what I say to you, I say to all:

Watch!"

Mark 13:35-37

The only way we can be truly ready for these "labor pains," and for Christ's return, is to know that we belong to Him. 

"For God so loved the world,

that He gave His only Son;

that whoever believes in Him 

should not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

Are you ready?

Fire & Flood

I love Isaiah 43.  It's usually the first passage I read when I'm feeling scared, discouraged, overwhelmed or insecure.  I've picked out my favorite verses and pasted them below.

It was written to encourage the Israelites when they were in captivity in Babylon.  They were slaves.  I'm sure they didn't feel like they were "God's chosen people."  They needed a reminder of who they really were in God's eyes.  

They also needed a reminder that He was still with them even in this dark place.  He promises that He will preserve and care for them as they walk through some of the toughest days of their lives.   

This pain won't last forever, God promises them, and us.  Wait for Me!  Watch what I'm about to do!

Whenever I read the first two verses, I substitute my own own name every time it says "Jacob" or "Israel."  Try it with your name:

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, 

And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; 

I have called you by your name; You are Mine. 

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; 

And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. 

When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, 

Nor shall the flame scorch you. 

(Isaiah 43:1,2) 

 

God knows us better than anyone.  He made us!  He knows my name and He knows your name.  We can have a real, intimate relationship with Him.  

We are HIS!

God never promises that He'll always keep the fire and flood away from us.  The fire and the flood will come.  But He does promise that if we cling to Him those painful experiences will not get the best of us.  They can't destroy us!  He will never leave us to face anything by ourselves.

He is with us. 

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These next verses remind the Israelites how God had saved them in the past.  He saved them before; He would do it again! We can use this reminder, too.  We can stop and think of all the ways God has helped us in the past; and most of all how God has saved us from the biggest fire of all: He gave Jesus for our ransom.  

He gave His Son in our place so that we could have eternal life.  This life and salvation is free to anyone who will accept it from Him!

For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, 
your Savior; 

I gave Egypt for your ransom, 

Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, 

And I have loved you; 

Therefore I will give men for you, 

And people for your life.

(Isaiah 43:3,4)

Did you hear that?  The God of the universe is saying to you and to me, I have not forgotten you!  I have rescued you in the past and I will do it again.  You are precious to Me.  I love you!  I love you so much that I gave My Son to die in your place. 

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Fear not, for I am with you...

Everyone who is called by My name,  

Whom I have created for My glory; 

I have formed him, yes, I have made him.

Indeed before the day was, I am He; 

And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; 

I work, and who will reverse it?  

(Isaiah 43:5a, 7)

We have no reason to fear.  God knows our name!  And then, when we become His children by trusting in Jesus, He gives us HIS name as well.  We are Christians.  We exist to bring Him glory.  

Have you ever wondered, "What is the meaning of life?  What is my purpose in this world?"  God tells us right here.  

He created us to bring Him glory; He chose us (!) to showcase His glory, or (as John Piper would say) His spectacularness.

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Behold, I will do a new thing,  
Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? 

I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.

This people I have formed for Myself;  They shall declare My praise.

(Isaiah 43:13, 19, 21) 

When we find ourselves in the raging fire, or knocked over by stormy waves...we have hope!   It won't last forever.  God is "on the move."  

Watch for Him...and He will do something new.

Ruby’s Mom and the Lotus Flower

Most days I'm immersed with life in Dallas.  Diapers, dinners, church, friends, chores.  But some days, like today, my mind is back in China.

One of the most beautiful people I met during the year we lived in China was my student Ruby’s mother.  

One weekend Josh and I traveled with Ruby and two other girls to a very small community in Jiang Xi province in Southern China, only a couple of hours by train from Nanchang, where we lived.  We were going there to meet Ruby’s family.  

We took a non-air-conditioned train to the nearby town and then hopped on a rickety bus that took us from the train station far out into the middle of some rice fields.  The bus let us off at the end of a long, straight dirt road that stretched as far as we could see through green rice fields.  

Ruby’s high school aged brother was waiting for us there when the bus dropped us off.  He shyly said “hello” and tried out his English on Josh and me as he led us down the road toward a small gathering of houses we could see in the distance.

Ruby’s village was one of the smallest and poorest I had ever seen.  There were maybe 10 or 12 houses making up the village.  As we approached the houses we left the road and followed a path into the village.  There were no roads in-between houses, just pathways.  And that made sense, because few (if any) there owned a car...the majority of Chinese people travel by bicycle or motorcycle.  

We had to walk around several cows that were lazing in our pathway and we keenly watched our step...there was garbage and cow dung everywhere we looked.

As soon as we entered the village a group of about a dozen children came running up to us and followed us toward Ruby’s house.  We smiled and tried to interact, but they held back at first, shy.  They laughed and skipped behind us, whispering about us and giggling.  I felt vaguely like the pied piper. 

As we neared the back edge of the village, Ruby pointed out the cut stone house at the very end of the row.  That was her house, and her parents were waiting in the doorway.  

I knew already that this was no ordinary woman I was about to meet.  Ruby had confided in me several months earlier, with tears, that her mother is blind.   Several years before she had battled a brain tumor that left her with her life but stole her eyesight.

Blindness is never an easy thing, but in China her handicap is considered shameful.  When she first went blind Ruby’s father was very harsh with her.  He told her again and again that she was worthless, and Ruby’s mom believed him.  Several times she tried to end her life by swallowing pesticides.  

Thankfully, she failed!  A sweet Christian woman in the village took Ruby’s mother under her wing.  She helped her as she learned to live with her blindness and eventually introduced Ruby’s mom to Jesus!  She still visits her every day to check on her and see if she needs any help.  

God used Ruby’s mother’s blindness to show her how much she needed Him.  And another miracle had happened only weeks before we visited the family.  Ruby had run breathless from her dorm room to our apartment to tell us the news: her mother had led her husband, Ruby's dad, to Christ as well! 

I held Ruby’s mother’s hand with both of mine when Ruby introduced us, and she beamed.  Her hair was cut short for easy care, and her skin was rough from years of hard labor.  But her face was absolutely radiant.  Tears are pooling in my eyes as I type this.  I have rarely seen so much quiet joy in someone’s face as I did in Ruby’s mother’s face. 

We watched in awe as she helped her husband prepare our dinner.  She took a large, sharp knife and chopped raw chicken and vegetables with quickness and precision, like a gourmet chef.  She knew we were watching her, and she smiled with delight.  

There was no such thing as a gas or electric stove in this village.  After she finished chopping, Ruby’s mom took position by the woodpile and fed the fire and fanned it while her husband stir-fried our food.  I was scared for her as she threw log after log into the fire.  But she knew exactly what she was doing, and how much distance to keep from the flames.  She had her husband chattered away and laughed and joked in Chinese as they worked. Every once in a while Ruby would translate for us so we would know what they were saying.

At one point during our visit some of the children from the village picked me a huge pink lotus flower from the pond just outside Ruby’s parents’ house (and made us costumes from the leaves).  The flower was stunning.  

I so wanted to share the beauty of the flower with Ruby’s mom, so I took it to her and pressed it into her hands.  

She gently fingered the blossom and her face lit up like the sun.  She nodded and murmured a Chinese phrase I knew.  Piao liang.  Beautiful. 

It struck me then that Ruby’s mom was so much more beautiful than the lotus flower.  She is a breathtaking picture of how God can take a horrible situation and use it for His glory.  

I know every single day is still incredibly difficult for her.  Her son and daughter are far away in school.  Her husband, like most men from rural China, is a migrant worker constantly traveling from city to city trying to find work so he can bring a little money home for his family.  She is alone, and life is hard.  She still lives with a lot of heartache. 

But she has Jesus. 

She has met Him in her darkest hour, and anyone who meets her can see Him shining through her.  All I could do as I watched her was praise God.  She is blossoming despite – or perhaps because of – her pain.  God has seen her suffering, in that hidden little village in the middle of rice fields in Southern China, and He is using it for good.