Hi Gray,
Well the evil in this world is certainly a hard thing to figure out, but I think that anger comes because we are seeing through a glass darkly right now. Maybe we have to come to that child like trust in God, so we do not question harshly what is being done here and now on this earth. Of course we feel deep heart wrenching sorrow when we hear about such a precious little life being snuffed out. But where did that emotion come from? God gives us these emotions and feelings so that we can deeply experience this life, so it will have a great impact on us less we forget how terrible this world/age really is.
Look at the animal world, mother animals are fiercely protective of their young, and when they die they instinctively will stand guard over them not even knowing they are dead. But they will soon leave and forget about their lose baby. But God gives us memory, so we don't forget, I don't think we will forget these things we experience through all eternity.
We look at death and only see the immediately results, that child is gone and the parents are terribly grief stricken, it is all just heart breaking. This is looking at it from our very limited perspective of right now. But don't we know that child will live again? That child will be raised up and live it's life out in the next age, isn't that our hope within. Think about that child being given back to it's parents to grow up in the next age without all the terrible possibilities that could happen to them in this age. It will be an age of peace under Christ's rule, we can not imagine how good would that be. God knows the end from the beginning, He knows what's ahead for that child as well as all the other people that suffer in this world, HE WILL MAKE IT RIGHT!
Here are a couple of places Ray speaks on this.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php?topic=3815.0 ------------------
We must be careful how we use words and phrases and also be careful not
to draw fallacious conclusions from Scriptural Truths. The Bible nowhere says
that God "pre-ordained" such sins. It says he has a fore-knowledge OF such
sins. Many people over the years have tried to force me into saying that God sins
and that God is evil, but I won't say it, because I don't believe it. God nowhere
says that He "ordains" sin, and so I don't say it either.
God did not "pre-ordain" me to eat Girl Scott cookies today, but I did. Man has
the ability to think, plan, create, imagine, and carry out these devised lusts of his
heart, and yes, God KNEW a long time ago just what we would do, but nowhere
does it say that God "pre-ordained" our sins. We live and operate under law. We
automatically do certain things under certain stimuli. It does not need to be "pre-
ordained."
Maybe what you are really asking is why did God create humanity so that they would
sin under all of these different stimuli? But that's a topic too big for an email. Besides,
I have covered these things many times in the articles on our site. If you look up ordain
or ordained in a concordance, you will find that God has ordained dozens of things in
the Scripture, but nowhere does it say He ordained particular sins.
http://bible-truths.com/part5.htm -------------------------------
The Scriptures say that: "All is of God ... " (II Cor. 5:18), yet we just read that God " ... is trying no one." That is, God Himself, is not trying or testing us to see how well we fare. He already knows the verdict. He already knows, that we don't "fare" well at all. God knows all (I John 3:21). The reason God doesn't, Himself, try anyone is because He doesn't need to try anyone for His benefit-He already knows all. Notice Webster's Dictionary: "trial, 1. the act of hearing a case in a law court to DECIDE WHETHER the claim or charge is true." Surely, no one is so audacious as to think God needs evidence in a trial to determine the truth. God sends the trials, but God does not do the trying-He already knows the outcome-but man doesn't. Man desperately needs trials to prove to himself (not God), that he is a failure and needs a Saviour. The trials are for our benefit, for our learning, not for God's benefit and God's learning - God knows all.
We can accomplish no good of ourselves. What we are to learn is contained in the next passage: "Be not deceived [but of course, most people are deceived], my beloved brethren! ALL GOOD giving and EVERY perfect gratuity is from above, descending from the FATHER of lights ... " (Jas. 1:16). That is the lesson we, not God, are to learn and our trials are a great aid in understanding God's goodness.
Again, consider Joseph and his brothers. Joseph told his brothers:
"Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither ... " (Gen. 45:4).
What? Don't be "grieved," or "angry with yourselves," for committing such atrocious sins, crimes, and evils? This was certainly a severe trial on Joseph and his brothers. God brought it about, not so He could see how they would handle this trial-God already knew that. That's why God, Himself, "tries no one".
"For GOD did SEND ME before you to PRESERVE LIFE" (same verse).
Not so that God would learn something He didn't already know. How silly. It was ALL of God, and the end more than justified the means. Why do men doubt God's ability to bring about good from evil, and to save all mankind in the only way they could ever really appreciate God's love and goodness? Even that greatest of evils, death, will be "Swallowed up by Victory" (I Cor. 15:54). "For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ shall ALL be vivified" (I Cor. 15:22). What was God's purpose in bringing this severe trial on Joseph and his brothers?
"And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to SAVE YOUR LIVES by a great deliverance. So now it was NOT you that sent me hither, BUT GOD: and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt" (Gen. 45:7-8).
God's plan is all about "life." God creates life. God chastises us in life. God makes life miserable at times. We are often weak and diseased in life. Even still, we love our own lives. But ultimately, God takes away our lives. Our parents die, our friends and relatives die. We know for certain that we, ourselves, will die. Without faith, it is a frightening expectation. But, we will all be beside ourselves with joy when God finally gives back our lives with immortality-never to suffer, sorrow, or hurt again. We simply need to trust God. We'll all be so glad we took the journey at journey's end.
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mercy, peace and love
Kat