The Greatest Strategist

We Can Be Wrong about Hard Times It can be extremely difficult to know when to sympathize and when to counsel. I think as Christians we tend to try to bring about meaning to things before anything else. We often try to say the right thing with the best intentions, but we aren’t doing it at the right time. Maybe some people are comforted by a greater meaning to extremely difficult hardships like losing a loved one to cancer, losing a baby, experiencing heartbreak, going through depression—you name it. However, others may not be built the same way. Some people hear that message and think, How condescending and uncaring is that! We ought to ask how people are feeling first and see if they just need someone to be there and grieve with them instead of hearing counsel. Learning to gauge how people might react is a good skill to have. I advise being in grief before anything else, giving time and space when needed, and then asking them if they’d like to be encouraged by what you think. Never do what many young Christians or hypocrites do by accusing people of sinning when they go through tragedy. We aren’t the judge at this moment (Matthew 7:1–2) and have no right to tell others they must be wrong. This instance isn’t the time or place for any casting blame. It is always an individual’s responsibility to make peace with God and search for any possible wrongdoing on his or her own time (which might not be the case anyway). We also forget scripture in its proper context when being put on the spot. Being a Christian isn’t supposed to have a holier-than-thou attitude but rather a guilty-as-charged attitude. A person who is in the right relationship with God will recognize his or her own faults before anything else. We cannot know a person’s life by what happens to him or her. God either causes things directly or lets nature take place because the curse of the world is still at hand. We don’t know which is the case and cannot possibly know because we don’t know God’s intricate plan in depth. Question 6: Why Does God Punish? Isn’t He Always Loving? Christians think of God as the perfect Father because He has made us, comforts us, leads us, and does everything a good father should to perfection. It’s easy to believe or feel that your parents must enjoy punishing you just to exercise power over you. There are, of course, examples of negligent, abusive, and inadequate parents who don’t treat their children properly. For the most part, however, parents want the best for their children. If I think about it, I can imagine it is challenging for a parent to impart some form of misery on his or her children. If I was a parent, I wouldn’t like my children to be sad, angry, or upset —or ideally to experience anything negative. The reality is, to properly raise children, discipline is required. The Bible backs this up in Deuteronomy 8:5. “Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.” So God certainly disciplines those who disobey His commands. We might not love this discipline when it’s happening, but if we grow up in that environment, we realize it is eventually for our own good. The statement “God is love” is truthful, but many forget that He has more attributes. He is not only love but also true, just, righteous, holy, and so on. Suppose everyone did go to heaven. What about justice against atrocities committed by those who felt they did no wrong? How fair would it be to allow serial killers with no remorse into a perfect world simply because they are human? The New Testament states that people whose hearts acknowledge their evil for what it is and believe Jesus can forgive them are justified. Luke 23:39–43 says, “One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, ‘So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!’ But the other criminal protested, ‘Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.’ And Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” Two attitudes are shown in this passage. One is scoffing and goading. That man didn’t admit anything; he wasn’t humble enough to recognize his sin. The other realized they both deserved to die for their crimes while seeing Jesus as truly innocent because He was God. His heart changed while he was slowly dying. His desperate plea for Jesus to remember him was a cry for forgiveness. Yes, even people who have done wrong for their entire lives can be redeemed near the end if in their hearts they acknowledge how wicked they’ve been. The gospel is for everyone. It is good news for all who are willing to believe He forgives their sins.