WHAT IS GOD WAITING FOR?
Or do you think lightly of his wealth of kindness, of tolerance, and of patience, without recognizing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to a change of heart? Rom. 2:4, N.E.B.
We were discussing the starving children of Ethiopia. "How can God let them suffer like that?" someone asked, his voice betraying alarm. "Why doesn't He do something? Why doesn't He put an end to all of this?"
"We have to see how bad sin is," another explained. "The devil has to be given enough time to expose himself for what he is."
My question is Will seeing how bad sin is bring an end to the sin problem? Has evidence that smoking causes lung cancer brought an end to people using cigarettes? The second coming of Christ is not being delayed because not enough people think the devil is bad. So what is God waiting for?
The apostle Paul wrote that God's kindness, tolerance, and patience are meant to lead us to a change of heart. Our opinion of God can remain devastatingly wrong despite the fact that we know how bad off we are in our sinful condition. God knows that only as we see His goodness will we begin to think differently about Him.
We need to focus on the revealed goodness of God rather than the ongoing badness of the devil. The sin problem cannot be settled physically until it is settled mentally. God's heart nearly ruptures with the sorrows of mankind. But were He to continuously intervene to relieve earthly tragedy, we would have a distorted picture of what happens when we are separated from Him.
God is waiting for us to be utterly enthralled with Him. Not emotionally hyped up but totally and intelligently satisfied with who He is. To rescue us from this sin-infested planet prior to that would be to carry some of our misgivings about Him with us to heaven. It would be like cutting off the flank of a cancerous cow and calling the remainder healthy even though the cancer virus was in the bloodstream. Ultimately it would be futile to do so. And dangerous.
God's commitment to reality is in our best interests. The exceedingly high price He continually pays to ensure our total deliverance from the virus of sin should fill our hearts with awe. Rather than cry out, "What is God waiting for?" let us say to one another, "What are we waiting for?"
Or do you think lightly of his wealth of kindness, of tolerance, and of patience, without recognizing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to a change of heart? Rom. 2:4, N.E.B.
We were discussing the starving children of Ethiopia. "How can God let them suffer like that?" someone asked, his voice betraying alarm. "Why doesn't He do something? Why doesn't He put an end to all of this?"
"We have to see how bad sin is," another explained. "The devil has to be given enough time to expose himself for what he is."
My question is Will seeing how bad sin is bring an end to the sin problem? Has evidence that smoking causes lung cancer brought an end to people using cigarettes? The second coming of Christ is not being delayed because not enough people think the devil is bad. So what is God waiting for?
The apostle Paul wrote that God's kindness, tolerance, and patience are meant to lead us to a change of heart. Our opinion of God can remain devastatingly wrong despite the fact that we know how bad off we are in our sinful condition. God knows that only as we see His goodness will we begin to think differently about Him.
We need to focus on the revealed goodness of God rather than the ongoing badness of the devil. The sin problem cannot be settled physically until it is settled mentally. God's heart nearly ruptures with the sorrows of mankind. But were He to continuously intervene to relieve earthly tragedy, we would have a distorted picture of what happens when we are separated from Him.
God is waiting for us to be utterly enthralled with Him. Not emotionally hyped up but totally and intelligently satisfied with who He is. To rescue us from this sin-infested planet prior to that would be to carry some of our misgivings about Him with us to heaven. It would be like cutting off the flank of a cancerous cow and calling the remainder healthy even though the cancer virus was in the bloodstream. Ultimately it would be futile to do so. And dangerous.
God's commitment to reality is in our best interests. The exceedingly high price He continually pays to ensure our total deliverance from the virus of sin should fill our hearts with awe. Rather than cry out, "What is God waiting for?" let us say to one another, "What are we waiting for?"
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