As far as I can tell, these are the only options, and only the first one can inspire hope.
If God is weak, or if God is not good, or if God does not exist at all, then how can there be hope?
Some might say ‘what of it, so there’s no hope, suck it up and do the best you can!’
And some may succeed at this, but most of us find this deflating, demoralizing.
Why bother trying, why bother caring, why bother helping others, why bother pursuing a better world?
People all through history have sensed that there is hope, and that there is a God out there.
Not just any God, but a powerful God, and a good God.
Life is not hopeless, and my circumstances are not random or meaningless.
God is not the cause of evil, but neither is He a victim to it!
God is great, and God is good, and therefore we have “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow!”
What about you, what do you choose to believe?

Recently heard this song at the Port Perry Serve… loved it!

“I’m a Christian, but I have lately been struggling with a question: Do I believe God is Good, or do I believe God is just good to me? I see my life as having been blessed and guided by God into many good things (great husband, amazing kids, food to eat, etc.), but I struggle to reconcile all these gifts with the lives of those in extreme suffering and poverty. I’m not sure how to trust God with my everyday, (relatively) minor needs like relief for sick kids or financial problems. Why would I be rescued, when God didn’t rescue Holocaust mothers who watched their babies used as target practice? I believe in God. I believe he is Good. But I don’t know why I believe that.“

I am not defending or denying these comments, just letting them be heard…
Why do people question God’s goodness?
Because of horrible tragedies like the tsunami in Japan.
Because of shocking crimes like gang rape, child prostitution, torture, forcible confinement, etc.
Because of the amazing miracles in the Bible that do not seem to occur anymore (if they ever did).
Because of the horrific atrocities in the Bible that God seems to command and take pleasure in!
Because of the wonderful promises of God that don’t seem to come true (He will not let your foot slip?).
Because of the many testimonies of God’s help and protection that don’t seem to happen to us.
Because of the many, many disappointments that we experience in life, small and large.
Because of the desperate, sincere prayers raised to God that seem to go unanswered, unheard.
Because of the unfairness of life, bad people prospering and good people suffering.
Because God is invisible and silent, but evil and suffering are visible and loud.
Because of the specific crisis or tragedy that we have experienced that has rocked our world and our faith…
And because if we were God, all powerful and all loving, we would do something to help.

Well, I learned something by watching this… I’m not as dumb as I used to be!

Use the comment section to finish this sentence.

“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such a violent reaction against it?… Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too–for the argument depended on saying the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus, in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist – in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless – I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality – namely my idea of justice – was full of sense. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never have known it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.” (C.S. Lewis)

“Here’s the thing about proving skeptics wrong: They don’t care. They won’t learn. They will stay skeptics. The ones who said the airplane would never fly ignored the success of the Wright Bros. and went on to become skeptical of something else. And when they got onto an airplane, they didn’t apologize to the engineers on their way in Instead of working so hard to prove the skeptics wrong, it makes a lot more sense to delight the true believers. They deserve it, after all, and they’re the ones that are going to spread the word for you.” (Seth Godin)
Interesting.
In my preaching, I’ve really wanted to convince the skeptics, to win them over.
Meanwhile, believers have slowly been leaving.
Jesus urged His followed to look for the receptive, and to leave the resistant behind (Matthew 10).
If I aim to encourage and inspire believers, maybe God’s work in their lives will convince the skeptics.
To delight the true believers, not to give them what they want to hear but showing them the delights of what they believe!
What do you think?

“I think that if there were a God, there would be less evil on this earth. I believe that if evil exists here below, then either it was willed by God or it was beyond His powers to prevent it. Now I cannot bring myself to fear a God who is either spiteful or weak. I defy Him without fear and care not a fig for his thunderbolts.” (Marquis de Sade)
It seems to me that logic requires that we be open to all possibilities.
The Marquis de Sade suggests two (God is either spiteful or weak), but are there no other options?
A millionaire has a son who is living on welfare: either the father is mean or weak?!?
Or maybe the father has done many things for the son, but the son has not received it.
Could it not be – yes it certainly can – that the son has made choices that leads to his hardship.
And would the most loving thing for the father to do be to bail out his son every time he got in trouble?
God is either spiteful or weak… or more loving than we can imagine.
Sadly, I think the Marquis de Sade is in the same place as Job, and could learn from him.
“You asked me, ‘Who do you think you are to disagree with my plans? You do not know what you are talking about.’ I spoke about things I didn’t completely understand. I talked about things that were too wonderful for me to know.” (Job 42:3)
Yes, there is another possibility, and I gladly bring myself to fear and love this loving, merciful God!

Which do you think produces better results?