A Believer’s Question

Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible…. 

Psalm 73:1-3  NKJV

Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
² But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly slipped.
³ For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 

Jeremiah 12:1

Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You;
Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? 

Believers have in common an ancient problem.  The philosophical term for this is “Theodicy”.  It is the question “How can an all-powerful, all-loving God allow the evil that is in the world?” 

To begin, the question is imperfectly stated.  The God of the Scriptures, the only true God is not only “all-powerful and all-loving”, He is all-wise and perfectly holy.  Nothing happens in His creation which is not the result of the counsel of the all-wise and perfectly holy God.  Of this, I am certain. 

The Psalmist in 73:1-3 states his dilemma, “Truly or surely or of a certainty God is good to Israel”.  But that is not his experience.  His experience was Jeremiah’s.  It is not the righteous but the wicked who has all the good things - wealth, health, a loving, successful family.  And he even dies easily.  “Now how can you beat this?” 

There is something that is more important, the sanctuary consideration.  Man has a latter end. 

There was a beer commercial the early 70s, “Drink up, you only go around once.”  As the saintly and wise Laird Harris stated, “That is not so.  You have another go around”. 

As believers, we have more to consider than our present experience whether it is pleasant or not.  We have a “latter end”.  No matter how little may be known about heaven, it still is a fact. 

When in GQ magazine, Clint Eastwood was asked if he believed in heaven, he replied, “I don’t know.  I’ve never met anyone who has been there”. 

I have.