Christianity doesn't make sense
Flat out, I really don't think it does.
In the world we live in Christianity comes across as crazy, it sounds like utter nonsense and lunacy. The more I think about it and the more I come to learn and understand about God, the more I think Christians are just nuts. And in this world, we really are. Why believe in a God who asks you to give up everything you want in this life, just because He claims that He loves you? Or that He says He has a great plan, one far better than yours, and He wants you to be a part of it? I think most people really wonder why, and that's not a bad thing. The question is: why give up all of myself and my life for someone I cannot see? Why spend this life on an invisible being?
The premise of Christianity is that God desires to restore us to Himself, to bring us back into a relationship with Himself. Provided there is a good God who actually made us, for His purposes, we would have resembled something like Christ, if sin had not interfered. Christ came to bridge the rift that was created, paying the penalty for our screw ups, just so we could have a relationship with God. So every struggle and every moment of breath on this planet was meant to give us an opportunity to know God, love Him, and in turn to be transformed more and more into the person we were made to be like, Christ.
It truly does sound insane. No doubt about that.
And yet, so many people, myself included, have experienced such change and transformation as a result of this intangible being. If anything, this has come as a result of understanding and experiencing that the love of an invisible God is boundless and is real, and Christ is the tangible being and embodiment of love.
These days we talk about Jesus lightly, and we have allowed ourselves to become underwhelmed at His story and His character. With the thought of "How does the cross of Christ even apply in my daily life?", we become vulnerable to the response that, He is simply not relevant to my situation right now; "Sure Jesus died for me, but that doesn't help the fact that I'm failing at school or I don't have a job and I'm poor, or I don't have a boyfriend/girlfriend and I'm lonely."
But all these thoughts fall flat in light of the fact that you are loved by a powerful, gentle and understanding God.
Hahaha okay what. Wishful thinking that "love will save the day!" and all that mushy gushy, happy feelings stuff will make all the pains of this world disappear.
Pain and suffering, longings and desires do not simply disappear. Suffering was promised and so was pain with their entourage of difficulties, trials and challenges. But all this in light of the fact that:
- You are loved and known by a trustworthy God - therefore He can and will take care of you. (See Psalm 139)
- Because He's all-loving, His plans and purposes are actually THAT good. (Romans 8:28)
These are two things each person must wrestle with and discover for themselves. Me telling you this changes nothing, if only to get you to think hard about such things. You understand these things to be true when you spend time getting to know God and experiencing Him.
Knowledge without love is dead, and love without knowledge (truth) is foolishness.
Loving anyone means trusting in them. Loving someone happens because you know them.God loves us and He knows us, better than we know ourselves. He says His plans are the ones He knows will serve to make the most of the gift of this life He has given us. There is an element of self-sacrifice that must happen, we must sacrifice our pride. Yet another heavy point to digest.
The question of why the "wicked" (or people who don't believe in Jesus) prosper and have so much materially, while the Christians have "nothing", came into my thoughts through a discussion I had the other day. To me it's clear the answer, but to others it really isn't. To the Christian struggling with such a picture of "injustice" and "inconsistency" in the character of God, it is a stumbling block. My wondering over how to address such a question led me to Job, and Psalm 73.
What does this entry have to do with the prosperity of the wicked? I'm sure you can guess, but I'll write more about that later. For now, read up on Psalm 73, and think about this and how it relates to this topic.
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."
Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)
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