Where
is God amid the lies? Where is God amid the slanders that arise?
Where is God when people invent all manner of foul accusations
against you and foul your reputation in the world?
Where
is God when injustice reigns and evil and wickedness hold sway and
you see no end where justice can sweep in and deliver the righteous
from the furies of hell? Where is God when the perpetrator acts as
accuser and is believed? When teachers of the Scripture shout down
just protestations and accuse the victim instead of facing down their
attackers who are the real source of evil in a situation, where is
God? When good men die at evil hands, Where is God? When
professional media believes—and
publishes—blatant
slanders rather than investigating and publishing the truth, where is
God? When the defenseless are slaughtered in their tens of millions,
the perpetrators calling it their right, and the black-robed elitist
oligarchs that pass for government these days back them up rather
than stand for the rights of the defenseless, where is God? When
perversion’s militancy rears its ugly head and targets those who
believe and have the courage to stand for what the Scripture says,
seeking to have their right to participate in commerce removed and
get them referred to as bigots and haters by those who specifically
target them for their faith because they refuse to commit what they
see as sin against God, and
the “champions” of rights refuse to stand with them, where is
God?
Beloved,
I could go on and on with that series of questions and accusations,
but at some point does
it not turn into an attack upon God Himself?
Truly, brethren, does it not?
Let
us not stray into the realm of attacking God for the actions of those
who are not God, as has
so often been the case among our adversaries.
Let us not fall into that pit of despair!
“Blessed
are the poor… the meek… the hungry… the thirsty… the
persecuted…”i
Why?
Do you not remember, precious? “For
theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!”ii
The
most gut-wrenching, convicting, soul-ripping sermon of all time
begins with the beatitudes, calling down blessings upon those who are
weakly, yet valiantly, trying to walk with Christ; upon those who
know they have no right, because they are not right. Rather, they
seek the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
Certainly
they cry out to God in times of injustice and terror and impending
martyrdom, but they do so knowing the grace of God, and expecting His
gracious reply.
Do
you see the hymn attached to this post?
Do
you see the crying out and the wailing? Above
all, do you see the reply? “When
to the least of these you do, there am I! Out in the darkness, far
from Light will you hide? Come unto Me all who labor, Weary, in need
of rest! I am the fountain filled with Life! Come to me and be
blessed!”
You
cannot know the support of God until you are depending on God, as
the last resort, as the final shield, as the last line of defense, as
the long-awaited Champion on a white charger, coming to sweep you out
of defeat and into victory at that very final moment before death
would forever close your eyes. Without such an experience can you
really and honestly claim to know His deliverance—when you have
never really been delivered from anything by Him?
Can
you?
When
you have never been shocked by victory is it really honest to claim
that you have been snatched
from the jaws of defeat? Really?
Come
now, beloved! Let us reason together!
How
can you proclaim victory if you have fought no battles? How can you
be called a conqueror having fought no wars? If you claim to have won
the battle on your own how do you know God was in it?
It
is only when God fights the battle and wins the war that you get to
see the power of God
in your life, acting for you on your behalf
so that you can know for a fact that you are His and His alone.
God
sees the lies; He sees the slanders. He sees them and He knows them
because He has went through them Himself. Do you not remember that it
is written that they claimed that He drove out demons by the prince
of demons? Do you not remember how they twisted His love of the
downtrodden
repentant into an accusation of a love for sin?
“Whatever
you do to the least of these you do unto Me!”iii
Jesus is with you in all that you suffer. He has, indeed suffered it
all Himself, and Him most unjustly, for He is the forever innocent
Son of God, Angel of the Most High, Messenger of the Almighty, God in
flesh.
Do
you remember Cleopas and his companion, walking on the road to
Emmaus? They were discussing all that had happened when,
unrecognized, Jesus came upon them and gave them the message out of
the Scriptures that they had at the time, the Old Testament,
that, indeed, the Messiah had to suffer through what Jesus went
through in order
to be the all-righteous deliverer from sin.
It
was in the time recounted in the Book of Acts that believers came to
be called Christian, the
term used meaning “Little Christ”. Yet, this was no attempt to
honor, but to mock, for
Christ suffered and died on a Roman cross,
and these were suffering likewise.
People
who claim to be Christian and yet shrink
from suffering—indeed, caving in to sin in order to avoid
suffering—are calling the lie upon their own claim to Christ. As
a matter of fact, it makes little if any difference if someone claims
Christ. The real, true, and visceral difference comes when Christ
claims someone.
That
someone is no longer their own. They are a bondslaveiv
to Jesus Christ, the awl of Divine Love having
pierced their ear, and the jewelry of the power
of
God being worn publicly upon their very lives.
God
is not a God of love only, but of righteousness and justice and
Truth. And into the lives of those around the bondslave to Him He
will speak these things.
Those
who do not belong to God will react as demons do, spouting hatred and
slander and terror in an effort to shout down the Word of Truth.
Are
you suffering because of having publicly taken a stand for Christ?
Then why do you fret and moan? Do you not remember the treasure?
“Blessed
are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed
are the mournful, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the hungry and thirsty
for righteousness, for they shall be fed. Blessed are the actively
compassionate, for they shall see compassion. Blessed are the clean
of heart, for they shall behold God. Blessed
are the peaceful, for they shall be called Children of God. Blessed
are those persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of
Heaven. Blessed are you when reviled, persecuted, and viciously
slandered for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your
reward is great in Heaven, for so they persecuted the Prophets who
were before you!”v
So,
when you suffer slander, and lies, and wickedness, and injustice, and
persecutions, and vilifications,
and all manner of evil for Christ, where is
He? He is right there with you, in the midst!
i Matthew
5:3-12
ii Matthew
5:3,10
iii Matthew
25:31-45
iv Deuteronomy
15:12-18
