Every day evil things occur in this world. You can turn on the T.V. and hear news reports of robbers, rapists, and animal cruelty. The radio blares out the most recent crime statistics. Standing on the street corner, you can hear of the latest neighborhood crime spree from your friends on the block. It is most saddening when you hear of the innocent victims of senseless crimes, whether they be children or animals or the elderly. This world is full of sinful people acting out their evil desires.
Sometimes it is too much to bear when we hear of these evil acts with seemingly no retribution. The law enforcement agencies can never cover enough territory to be everywhere at once. There are people who get away with crimes such as vandalism, burglary, and murder. Even when they are caught, our justice system doesn't always seem "just." Sometimes what seems to us to be important for the jury to know is not allowed to be brought up in court. Or the punishment meted out doesn't seem adequate to pay for the crime committed. Then there is our all-powerful God who seems to not care enough to put a stop to it all. We want God to stop them or even punish them, sometimes wishing they would suffer as much or more than their victims. How can a loving and merciful God sit idly by, watching these despicable acts against his creation, and do nothing?
Jeremiah complained about this very thing:
You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear [wicked] fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts. Yet you know me, O Lord; you see me and test my thoughts about you. Drag [the wicked] off like sheep to be butchered! Set them apart for the day of slaughter! How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished. Moreover, the people are saying, “He will not see what happens to us.” Jeremiah 12:1-4 NIV
What we do know is that God is loving and merciful but also faithful and just. While God does not cause these things to happen, he may allow them to happen and then use them in ways that are impossible for us to fully understand. Our world is a sinful place, and Satan is alive and well, causing those evil things to happen. Every human being is sinful, and some commit acts that in our own human view are more horrible than others. However, in God's eyes, every sin is equal in that every sin separates a person from God's salvation. Thankfully, he does not strike us all dead, but rather he forgives us and offers us the free gift of salvation through faith in Christ, Jesus. There are times that we will have to simply trust in God and his perfect wisdom in how he handles things that occur on earth. We can only see the visible fruits that are the works of our hands on earth, some good fruits and some rotten fruits. We cannot see inside a person's heart and do not know what they truly believe or how they feel as they take their last breath on this earth. It is possible that even a murderer who has been an atheist or agnostic could have a change of heart in the last seconds of life. Those who reject God's grace and do not have faith in their hearts at the time of their death will have to deal with God's anger and vengeance in the afterlife. Only God can know what is in the heart at the time of death and that is the time that true justice will prevail.
God answered Jeremiah's questioning:
This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country. And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among my people. But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 12:14-17 NIV
Luckily, we are not left in our sinful state and God does not give us what we all truly deserve as sinful human beings - eternal death. Graciously, God allowed the most wicked act of all in the torture and crucifixion of his sinless son in our place, in order that he might rise again in victory over sin and death for our salvation. As long as we remain faithful, we instead will inherit life in heaven. Thankfully, we who are believers in the end will not die as we deserve but rather will enjoy God's blessings eternally.
written by Jan Andersen
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