Unfortunately, God Is Good

So I have a story for everyone today. The characters have been fabricated but the events are real.

There once was a man. We will call him Tom. He grew up like many kids. Everyday was a brand new adventure with a brand new villain to save the world from. As he made his way through school he learned he had a good mind for business. He made is way through college constantly standing at the top of his class. While in college, Tom fell in love with Sarah, a beautiful, wise, funny, fun-loving girl. Tom and Sarah tied the knot not long after graduating. In order to love and provide for his wife, Tom got a job supervising construction projects headed by the government. They had a wonder life together. He came home in the evenings to a meal prepared by his beloved.

Tom and Sarah eventually had a son. We will call him Tristan. Tom loved Tristan. They loved to wrestle. Tom taught his son to respect his family and others, to work hard, and the way to a woman's heart is to give her yours. Tristan grew to be strong, caring, and compassionate. About this time, some really curious and unnatural things began happening. The river nearby, which the people heavily relied on, turned to blood. It was completely useless. There were bugs like gnats, locusts, and flies infested the city. All of these incests absolutely destroyed all of the crops. The city was even over run by frogs. Everyone was bewildered and feared that things were going to get worse. All the religious crazies didn't help either. Eventually all the livestock fell over dead. Even the weather went ballistic and it began to hail. With all the talk all over town Tom and Sarah were becoming worried. It was soon after that they received calls from friends and family that they were sick and had boils all over their bodies. Even after doing everything to protect themselves, Tom and his family still got sick. Everyone did. At the end of all this the sun was blocked for three days. It was total darkness.

Through all the pandemonium people still had time to talk. Everyone was saying that it was God's judgment on the people. It was like listening to a city full of Pat Robertsons. Everyone began believing that their children were going to die if they didn't smear blood on their doors. Tom and Sarah had always been realistic people. There is no way they would believe that. They also had never done anything wrong to anyone. No one would have any reason to hurt their family.

On an ordinary night (comparatively speaking of course), Sarah put Tristan to bed and just after she joined her husband. They laid their heads down to sleep. They watched the fun and quirky choreography preformed by the all too famous sugar plums.

The next morning they woke up and, just like every morning, went to battle their son to get out of bed. This time no battle would be fought. Tristan was dead. Tom was overcome by grief, so much so he had not even an inkling of an idea of how to console his beloved wife.

Unfortunately this is where the story ends. Tom and Sarah lived the rest of their lives in overwhelming grief.

If you haven't figured it out by now, this is a story in the bible. We even wrote a children's song about it where God asks pharaoh to let his people go. Not so much of a kiddie song is it. This event is the way in which God set free Israel from their slave master, Egypt. Let me ask a question. Why was it necessary for God to bring death and suffering to an entire nation to accomplish this? Why did children have to die? It almost seems to me that God was punishing a nation for what they did as a nation and not as individuals. Maybe none of these people were innocent, not even Tristan. Is God really Good? Allow me to answer. YES! But how? This is a time when we would say "If this is good it is unfortunate and unfortunately God is good." We must not think in terms of earthly things but in terms of spiritual things which will not make sense to earthly minds. The truth of God is found in the Holy Spirit illuminating scripture. Let us not reason with things our minds cannot understand. Psalm 131.