One of the biggest roadblocks many face to believing in God and submitting their lives to Him is an objection regarding His character. “How could a loving God allow an innocent child to suffer and die? How could an all-powerful God allow evil to persist within the world? How could a compassionate and merciful God send anyone to an eternal torment in hell?”
These are not easy questions to answer. We may struggle comprehending God’s operation in many areas for the rest of our lives. But the scriptures do not sweep these questions under the rug or hide from them. By revealing to us the truth about God and this world in which we live, they can help us properly come to terms with these doubts and questions. Over the next few weeks I want to explore what the Bible says about these issues in a series of articles. I hope they will help you develop deeper convictions about both the sovereignty and compassion of God.
First of all, we need to recognize that God is not obligated to give an account of all His doings or get our permission to act within the world He has created. We cannot confine God to the limits of our own comprehension. He is an infinite being and cannot be successfully filtered through our finite minds. If we could fully wrap our minds around the nature and activity of God, we would be serving a pretty small God. Brother Bill Hall used to say, “I could sooner filter all the waters of Niagra Falls through a drinking straw, than filter almighty God through my mind.”
We often behave like little children complaining about the rules and restrictions of their parents. In their immaturity they cannot see the wisdom behind these decisions. Yet, they must trust that their parents know best and submit to their authority all the same. How much more should we respect God’s will in our lives? Even if He were to explain every detail of His reasoning in allowing certain things to happen in our lives, do we really think we would be capable of understanding? His perspective is not limited by time or space. It is not skewed by partiality or personal prejudice. There is literally no one in a better position to make decisions about how the annals of time should unfold.
The scriptures teach us that God is the potter and we are the clay. Isaiah warns us, “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?” (Is 45:9). How foolish it is for us to call our Creator to trial and stand in judgment over the way He operates in the universe. “Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves” (Ps 100:3).
There is much more that can be said in defense of God’s character, but we must begin by recognizing how foolish it is to limit an infinite God to the confines of our own human reason.