Clarksville, TN – Not one sparrow can fall to the ground without God knowing it. And the very hairs on our heads are all numbered.
So don’t worry we are more valuable to Him than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31) Jesus told His disciples that God keeps an eye on every sparrow and counts every hair on our heads, yet the fact remains that sparrows do fall.
Tragedies do come to us. Innocent little children die under the wheels of cars driven by drunks. Someone we love is struck by cancer and dies in spite of our prayers.
Could God have prevented the sparrow’s fall? The tragedy? The child’s death or the spread of cancer? Most of us believe that God can.We are then left to wrestle in our minds with the problem of why God permits what seems to us to be a triumph of evil over good. Sometimes we draw the conclusion that God is uncaring or partial or we think the victims of evil suffer because of their own or some else’s sin.
Both conclusions don’t line up with what the Bible says. In the Good News, it tells us God is love, and we don’t have to be good enough to deserve His loving care.
It is impossible to praise God for all things if we think that He is not ultimately responsible for everything that happens, or if we think that He is sometimes indifferent to our suffering. Praising God for evil circumstances doesn’t mean that we approve of evil, except in the sense that Paul spoke of taking pleasure in his sufferings because he knew that God was at work in and through it.
God doesn’t want evil to control us. He created us with a free will and the capacity for evil. Evil remains in this world with God’s permission, but is always subject to His will. Nothing evil can come near us without God’s permission. Because evil does exist, God sent His son to die on the cross to break the power of evil in the lives of all those who would believe in Him.
“The evil will bow before the good.” (Proverbs 14:19 NKJV) We who believe have been given the power to overcome evil. “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God… for whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.” (I John 5:1,4 NKJV) We as Christians say we believe in Jesus, but to fully believe in Jesus also means that we accept that God is the all-powerful God, He says He is, and that nothing happens without His knowledge or permission.
If we set ourselves to firmly believe this, and to praise God for every circumstance of apparent evil around us, I am convinced that every difficult situation, every tragedy, will be changed to God, thanking and praising Him for it, the power of God will be released. His power will overcome the plan of the evil in that situation, transforming it to fit the perfect plan of God.
If we praise the Lord in all circumstances, I believe that some sparrows will be prevented from falling, some little children won’t die, some cancers will be healed and leave. However, this shouldn’t be our only motivation for praising God. Some sparrows will still fall, some children will die, and some people will die of cancer. Our praise must be for those instances also.
We are told to praise God for allowing evil to come into our lives, trusting that He has a plan and purpose for it. We must realize that we ourselves have no power to overcome evil. The overcoming power is always God. The essence of God’s message to us is that we must learn to focus our attention on Him, the source of overcoming power, and not direct our attention toward the evil confronting us.
He will then direct our action moment by moment. Paul said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21 NKJV) In the case of Jesus arrest and crucifixion, His submission to evil than to resist it the way we normally do. Our idea of resistance is using force against force, so we react to evil circumstances opposing us, rather than responding to God’s presence and guidance in the situation.
When we respond to evil our way instead of trusting in God’s power and perfect control of the situation, we’re allowing evil to control us rather than overcoming evil with the power of God. “James tells us, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7 NKJV) Our defense against the power of Satan is the power of God.
When we stand firm in our faith that God is in perfect and loving control over every detail of the circumstances surrounding us, God’s mighty favor is released. And we express our faith by praising and thanking Him for the situation.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV) We as Christians should be full joy and thanksgiving and praise to God because “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God and called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28 NKJV)