Lesson 19: How Does God Operate in this World?

We say God is invisible, but claim he is a person. We do not use empirical science to study God, yet speak of his presence in our world. Many, such as Luther, write God is hidden in our world; however others claim to know exactly what he is doing.

Sometimes this is unsettling. For instance, Pat Robertson said this about the earthquake in Haiti:

Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it’s a deal. And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other. Desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It is cut down the middle on the one side is Haiti the other is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to god and out of this tragedy I’m optimistic something good may come.

Jim Wallis had a different take:

The tragedy in Haiti is unbelievable — the pictures of the pain and destruction are haunting. My heart breaks for the families and the victims of this tragedy…As always, in this kind of natural disaster, it is almost always the poorest who suffer the most — those who have the least to lose are often those who lose the most. Life is always hard for poor people — living on the edge is insecure and full of risk. Natural disasters make it worse. ..Tragic moments like this bring out the best in global citizens, as we put aside our differences and unite in support of the victims and their families…I also want to say a word about God and evil…My God does not cause evil. God is not a vengeful and retributive being, waiting to strike us down; instead, God is in the very midst of this tragedy, suffering with those who are suffering. When evil strikes, it’s easy to ask, where is God? The answer is simple: God is suffering with those who are suffering. Let us all keep the people of Haiti in our prayers. And let us all give what we can to help in the relief efforts.

In many ways, religions are responses to the evil in this world. Many today find these responses unsatisfactory. The death of innocent children leads them to question and abandon their faith.

Let’s try a different approach for a few weeks. Let’s start by sharing our first thoughts on how God operates in our world. Readers are always reporting they appreciate what others are thinking. So how do you think God operates in this world? Those who receive the posts via e-mail should check http://fritzfoltz.com/teaching/ to see if we can gather some first thoughts.

Tags: God's intervention, Jim Wallis, Pat Robertson