He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” Psalm 91: 15, 16, NKJV.
Most Gracious, Loving, Heavenly Father, Thank You for the assurance that at all times you will be with us. When bad times come along, please help us not to forget Your promise. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Yesterday we looked at time, “in the beginning,” after the entrance of sin, and beyond. We noted the changes that have taken place. Today, we are going to look at the “bad times,” and learn as much as we can from them. These are the negative, or “bad times” that we separated from our Scripture reading yesterday: “a time to die;” “a time to kill;” “a time to break down;” “a time to weep;” “a time to mourn;” “a time to cast away stones;” “a time to lose;” “a time to throw away;” “a time to tear;” “a time to hate;” “a time of war.” We will not be following this order.
I have said, in other devotionals, that it was obviously not the will of God, that humankind should know evil, “Then the LORD God said, ‘ “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil . . .” (Genesis 3: 22). Even though Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God, He had never endowed them with the ability to “handle” evil. From where we stand now, we can begin to appreciate, why – not understand; because iniquity is a mystery.
A time to die. It took me a while to understand why death is so painful. That may sound strange. What I mean is that the cycle of life is: We are born, we grow, we reproduce, and we die. So if death is a part of a natural cycle why do we hurt so badly when it occurs? We could come up with an answer such as, “It hurts to be separated from those we love.” But I believe that the real reason behind our pain, is that we were not created to die.
The tree of life had been provided in the Garden of Eden so that Adam and Eve could eat of it, and live forever. When sin and suffering entered our world, God expelled our first parents from the garden so that they would not live forever – suffering. Death that was never intended, became an act of mercy, in a world of sin. Then was fulfilled the curse brought on by the entrance of sin, “And to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3: 19c).
A time to kill. After the entrance of sin, when the knowledge of evil became a part of the make-up of human beings – killing – which was, and still is, an abnormal act, became normal in the eyes of human beings. Cain killed Abel (Genesis 4: 8). Lamech killed “a man” (12c). And murder is being committed ever since.
A time to hate. What we have been seeing so far, are all by-products, of the “knowledge of evil.” In a perfect world, created by He who is the Embodiment of love, these feelings of destruction began to take root and flourish and bear their fearful fruit. Jesus warned, “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5: 22). Anger leads to hatred, and oftentimes, hatred leads to murder.
A time of war. Iniquity is indeed a mystery. How could something so evil, deadly, and destructive, as sin, have its origin in heaven, a place so perfect, so holy, and so full of love? But it did. And ever since, we have felt the repercussions. The Adversary lost the battle in heaven and no longer had a place in the heavenly courts. He was cast down to the earth, and the beginning of woes came to the human race (Revelation 12: 7-10, 12b). Evil begets evil; and war begets war. And war has infested our entire world! From the home to the church, and everywhere in our society, the scars of war can be seen and felt.
A time to weep. A time to mourn. And with death and dying came weeping and mourning. Sin brought pain to child bearing, but I am sure that no pain can equal the pain of a mother, or father, losing a child to death!
But thanks be to God, He will be with us in the bad times! We do not have to bear any pain by ourselves. He has promised that whether it be the “waters,” the “rivers,” or the “fire” (Isaiah 43: 2), they will not overcome us, for He will be with us! Not even the smell of fire will be upon us. And He keeps His promises!
We will continue.