LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Timothy 3:1, But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come;

 

I wonder how many times I have shared this verse in this blog! Our heavenly Father warned us. He told us that the last days would be perilous; that means evil to me. He was right! The days we are living in are evil. They continue to grow more evil by the day. By now, you have heard about the tragedy that occurred in Uvalde, Texas.

 

I do not pretend to understand evil. I know it comes from the devil. I know that it is going to grow worse when Christians, the True Church, are taken out of this world. I know there are going to be those who wonder where God is when the terrible tragedies that have happened in the last few weeks occur. Read the word of the prophet Habakkuk 1:2, O Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Even cry out to You. “Violence!” And You will not save. It is the question raised throughout time. Read the Psalms and you will find questions about how long God will be silent on the evil surrounding His people.

 

Habakkuk has been praying about the evil he saw that surrounded God’s people; he was asking how long God would do nothing. God seemed to be tolerating the violence, injustice and the killing of the righteous. The questions we have today are not new as we have seen people gunned down in a grocery store and children gunned down in an elementary school classroom. Like Habakkuk, we cry out wondering where God was when this happened.

 

But God’s silence must not be taken as indifference nor as inactivity. I will not try tell you I understand this. I have watched the news reports seeing and feeling the anguish in the hearts of parents, grandparents, and a community who have lost children. As all who have watched the reports my heart goes out to them.

 

Habakkuk’s questions come from a man who loves God; the questions come from a heart filled with faith to a righteous God. Continue reading in Habakkuk and you will see that his questions were not based on the “why” of the situation but on what he knew about God. That is the starting point for you and me as we try to make sense of the senselessness we see around us.  In chapter 2:4, God tells Habakkuk that “the just shall live by faith”. As God’s children, we must live in this world by faith in Him. He is not sleeping. He does see all things going on and He cares deeply for each of us. Because we know this, believe His word to be true, we know that the time is coming when all wickedness will be destroyed. When that happens only the unrighteous will be shaken! Keep reading and you will see that judgment is coming to those who have not given their heart and life to Jesus Christ.

 

Until that time, you and I must find peace and support in prayer. I do not know anything else that brings the closeness and peace that prayer does. God is on the throne and in control of all things. He is God! Because you and I are not, we go to Him seeking the peace only He can give. In the midst of the awful sin and evil in this world, you and I must learn to live in faith and to trust in the wisdom of God’s ways even in the tragedies.