this gift is that we can make choices
contrary to God’s will.
The “God is sovereign” mantra is trotted out every time something bad happens but it’s just
not true. The word sovereign is not even in the Bible!
The truth is that God is not sovereign in the sense that he always gets what he wants. His
will is not always done. Why do you think Jesus taught us to pray, “Let your will be done on
earth as it is in heaven”?
But the good news is that God will write the final chapter of human history and for those
who trust him all things will work out for good.
15
GRACE REMIX
Lie #3: “God could’ve stopped this from happening but didn’t”
A boy takes a loaded gun to school and God doesn’t stop him. An earthquake flattens a city and
God does nothing. What kind of God is this?!
The “God could’ve stopped this but didn’t” chestnut is another way of saying, “This bad
thing is God’s fault. He allowed it to happen.”
Like the other two lies we’ve looked at, there’s a measure of truth behind this. Everything
that happens happens because God gave us the freedom to do what we like, even the freedom
to hate and kill each other and then blame him for what we did. Of course, we look like fools
when we do this. We look like Adam who blamed God for giving him a woman who led him
into sin (Genesis 3:12).
We are masters at playing the blame game. When something bad happens we blame our
genes, our parents, our spouses, our kids. We blame the government, the system, immigrants,
terrorists, so we might as well go the whole way and blame God. “I got sick. God allowed this
to happen. God is at fault.”
Jesus, on the other hand, never blamed anyone. He just took responsibility for other
people’s messes and fixed them.
Believe the lie that God is behind everything that happens and you’ll end up in the ash heap
of life licking your wounds and examining your navel like a perplexed Job. You’ll bend over
whenever the devil wants to kick you. Who wants to live like that?
The truth is God doesn’t always stop bad things from happening. The good news is that
sometimes you can. You can bring the weight of his purposes to bear on your circumstances by
trusting him. You can walk through the valley of the shadow of death without fear knowing
that he is with you.
A simple test
Which of the following Jesuses is found the Bible?
•
Jesus #1 sat around powerless, making excuses and doing nothing to help those who had
been made sick by God
•
Jesus #2 went around in the power of the Spirit doing good and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil
Hopefully you know the second Jesus is true (see Acts 10:38). Yet sometimes we who claim to
follow Christ look more like the first Jesus. We’re not walking in the power of the spirit and
we’re not healing the sick. Instead we’re making excuses like, “God is in control. It’s his fault,
not ours.”
16
ESCAPE TO REALITY – GREATEST HITS VOL. 4
I don’t write this to condemn you but to make you angry at Satan’s lies. James said “resist
the devil and he will flee from you.” It’s that simple. We resist, he flees. But we won’t resist if
we think God is doing the devil’s work and making us sick, killing our kids, and robbing us
blind.
God is not making you sick and poor! He is not the reason you lost your money, your job,
your marriage, or your kids. These are the tragedies of a world cursed by Adam’s sin. But the
good news is that one greater than Adam has come and given you authority to proclaim the
good news of his kingship to all creation. Are you sick? Talk to your sickness about Jesus by
whose stripes you are healed (1 Peter 2:24). Are you poor? Talk to your bank account about
your rich King who became poor so that through his poverty you might become rich (2
Corinthians 8:9). Have you been robbed, discouraged, and beaten by life? Then be like David
and strengthen yourself in the Lord your
contrary to God’s will.
The “God is sovereign” mantra is trotted out every time something bad happens but it’s just
not true. The word sovereign is not even in the Bible!
The truth is that God is not sovereign in the sense that he always gets what he wants. His
will is not always done. Why do you think Jesus taught us to pray, “Let your will be done on
earth as it is in heaven”?
But the good news is that God will write the final chapter of human history and for those
who trust him all things will work out for good.
15
GRACE REMIX
Lie #3: “God could’ve stopped this from happening but didn’t”
A boy takes a loaded gun to school and God doesn’t stop him. An earthquake flattens a city and
God does nothing. What kind of God is this?!
The “God could’ve stopped this but didn’t” chestnut is another way of saying, “This bad
thing is God’s fault. He allowed it to happen.”
Like the other two lies we’ve looked at, there’s a measure of truth behind this. Everything
that happens happens because God gave us the freedom to do what we like, even the freedom
to hate and kill each other and then blame him for what we did. Of course, we look like fools
when we do this. We look like Adam who blamed God for giving him a woman who led him
into sin (Genesis 3:12).
We are masters at playing the blame game. When something bad happens we blame our
genes, our parents, our spouses, our kids. We blame the government, the system, immigrants,
terrorists, so we might as well go the whole way and blame God. “I got sick. God allowed this
to happen. God is at fault.”
Jesus, on the other hand, never blamed anyone. He just took responsibility for other
people’s messes and fixed them.
Believe the lie that God is behind everything that happens and you’ll end up in the ash heap
of life licking your wounds and examining your navel like a perplexed Job. You’ll bend over
whenever the devil wants to kick you. Who wants to live like that?
The truth is God doesn’t always stop bad things from happening. The good news is that
sometimes you can. You can bring the weight of his purposes to bear on your circumstances by
trusting him. You can walk through the valley of the shadow of death without fear knowing
that he is with you.
A simple test
Which of the following Jesuses is found the Bible?
•
Jesus #1 sat around powerless, making excuses and doing nothing to help those who had
been made sick by God
•
Jesus #2 went around in the power of the Spirit doing good and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil
Hopefully you know the second Jesus is true (see Acts 10:38). Yet sometimes we who claim to
follow Christ look more like the first Jesus. We’re not walking in the power of the spirit and
we’re not healing the sick. Instead we’re making excuses like, “God is in control. It’s his fault,
not ours.”
16
ESCAPE TO REALITY – GREATEST HITS VOL. 4
I don’t write this to condemn you but to make you angry at Satan’s lies. James said “resist
the devil and he will flee from you.” It’s that simple. We resist, he flees. But we won’t resist if
we think God is doing the devil’s work and making us sick, killing our kids, and robbing us
blind.
God is not making you sick and poor! He is not the reason you lost your money, your job,
your marriage, or your kids. These are the tragedies of a world cursed by Adam’s sin. But the
good news is that one greater than Adam has come and given you authority to proclaim the
good news of his kingship to all creation. Are you sick? Talk to your sickness about Jesus by
whose stripes you are healed (1 Peter 2:24). Are you poor? Talk to your bank account about
your rich King who became poor so that through his poverty you might become rich (2
Corinthians 8:9). Have you been robbed, discouraged, and beaten by life? Then be like David
and strengthen yourself in the Lord your
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