What is wrong with this world? Why do these tragedies have to continue? Why do we have to put up with it? And, Jesus, WHY do these people have to remain on the face of the earth?
Life on the earth, I feel, would be far easier if all the evil were gone. Nothing remaining. Just happy go lucky people, serving and praising God. There would be no senseless killings, no kidnapping, no hurting. We would no longer be scared. We could sit back, relax, and enjoy the life we have here on this earth until we are called up to heaven. And everyone would be called up there if there was no evil driving people to turn from God.
After the tragedy in Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary I was devastated. That day I had just been in my son’s Kindergarten class as I volunteer there every Friday. I also volunteer every Friday for what’s known as Caring Kids Club, where two kids from each class are picked each week to participate because they have been caught being “caring kids.” These are Kindergartners and first graders. I heard the news and my mind immediately went to the school I was at not all that long ago. Devastating.
And then it was time for their funerals. Heart wrenching, but what made it worse was the fact that Westboro Baptist Church was protesting their funerals. These were people who had done nothing worth protesting. They were attending school, they were teaching, they were trying their best to protect the lives of the little ones. Why would these people come all the way to Connecticut to protest? There was even talk about them coming to my home turf to protest funerals of firemen who were taken down by a sniper during a house fire that said sniper had purposely caused to draw them out. I call this group a hate group. There is no love. They are working for the wrong side, and I don’t think they even realize it. They have been blinded. They have forgotten what they’re protesting.
It was because of the protest of the funerals in Connecticut that made me cry out to God and ask “Why?” WHY are there people like this in the world? Why do people have to hate? Why do people have to kill? Why can’t they just go away? God has the power over life and death. Why can’t He just get rid of them all?
And then I opened up my Bible. That night’s reading was Matthew 13, and in that reading was the Parable of the Weeds, verses 24-30. God spelled out the answer right then and there. This parable is about a man sowing good seed in his field, “but while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat” (v.25). So, in this field, that was originally planned for good crops, both good and bad grew. Good and evil.
vv.27-28: “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?”
“’And enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’”
See? Even they wanted to get rid of what was bad. Why can’t we just pull them up? It doesn’t make sense to let them stay here. Or does it?
V.29: “’No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.’”
Oh. So, let me get this right. If we purge this world of all the “bad people” some of the good may be caught up in it? Hmm…so because of this whole Salvation thing, there’s still a chance for those who are doing wrong to turn before their time comes? It’s true that Satan has his workers. There’s no two ways about that. “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
But he also tries to get others to go along with his plans, those who have been called by God but have yet to answer. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). And weren’t we all there at one point? We were all sinners until we asked for forgiveness and asked Jesus into our hearts. And for those who have not done this yet, God has made time for it to happen. People would completely miss their opportunity to change if the world was “cleansed” prematurely. Okay. So, basically, God is telling us that we need to recognize that, yes, there is evil in this world (we should never turn a blind eye to it), and that we need to continue to do as we have been taught. We need to pray for the lost, and we need to witness.
If we stayed in our homes, locked away with our families in a hidden closet, frightened of what is out there, praying that God just takes away the evil so we could come back out, we would be ignoring our part in this life.
The finale?
v.30: “’Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
God is our judge. As promised He will separate the good from the evil when the time finally comes to do so, and because He is perfect He will not make mistakes. At that time, those who have accepted His son, thereby accepting Him, will go on to life everlasting. Those who do the work of the devil until the last day will descend to be with him.
But for now, we need to do the Lord’s work. He loves it each time a lost sheep is found, every time a prodigal son returns.
Dear heavenly Father, help us not to get caught up with the evils of the world. Help us to remember that we were once lost, and by Your grace we have been found. Help us to be a reflection of you.
Life on the earth, I feel, would be far easier if all the evil were gone. Nothing remaining. Just happy go lucky people, serving and praising God. There would be no senseless killings, no kidnapping, no hurting. We would no longer be scared. We could sit back, relax, and enjoy the life we have here on this earth until we are called up to heaven. And everyone would be called up there if there was no evil driving people to turn from God.
After the tragedy in Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary I was devastated. That day I had just been in my son’s Kindergarten class as I volunteer there every Friday. I also volunteer every Friday for what’s known as Caring Kids Club, where two kids from each class are picked each week to participate because they have been caught being “caring kids.” These are Kindergartners and first graders. I heard the news and my mind immediately went to the school I was at not all that long ago. Devastating.
And then it was time for their funerals. Heart wrenching, but what made it worse was the fact that Westboro Baptist Church was protesting their funerals. These were people who had done nothing worth protesting. They were attending school, they were teaching, they were trying their best to protect the lives of the little ones. Why would these people come all the way to Connecticut to protest? There was even talk about them coming to my home turf to protest funerals of firemen who were taken down by a sniper during a house fire that said sniper had purposely caused to draw them out. I call this group a hate group. There is no love. They are working for the wrong side, and I don’t think they even realize it. They have been blinded. They have forgotten what they’re protesting.
It was because of the protest of the funerals in Connecticut that made me cry out to God and ask “Why?” WHY are there people like this in the world? Why do people have to hate? Why do people have to kill? Why can’t they just go away? God has the power over life and death. Why can’t He just get rid of them all?
And then I opened up my Bible. That night’s reading was Matthew 13, and in that reading was the Parable of the Weeds, verses 24-30. God spelled out the answer right then and there. This parable is about a man sowing good seed in his field, “but while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat” (v.25). So, in this field, that was originally planned for good crops, both good and bad grew. Good and evil.
vv.27-28: “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?”
“’And enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’”
See? Even they wanted to get rid of what was bad. Why can’t we just pull them up? It doesn’t make sense to let them stay here. Or does it?
V.29: “’No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.’”
Oh. So, let me get this right. If we purge this world of all the “bad people” some of the good may be caught up in it? Hmm…so because of this whole Salvation thing, there’s still a chance for those who are doing wrong to turn before their time comes? It’s true that Satan has his workers. There’s no two ways about that. “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
But he also tries to get others to go along with his plans, those who have been called by God but have yet to answer. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). And weren’t we all there at one point? We were all sinners until we asked for forgiveness and asked Jesus into our hearts. And for those who have not done this yet, God has made time for it to happen. People would completely miss their opportunity to change if the world was “cleansed” prematurely. Okay. So, basically, God is telling us that we need to recognize that, yes, there is evil in this world (we should never turn a blind eye to it), and that we need to continue to do as we have been taught. We need to pray for the lost, and we need to witness.
If we stayed in our homes, locked away with our families in a hidden closet, frightened of what is out there, praying that God just takes away the evil so we could come back out, we would be ignoring our part in this life.
The finale?
v.30: “’Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
God is our judge. As promised He will separate the good from the evil when the time finally comes to do so, and because He is perfect He will not make mistakes. At that time, those who have accepted His son, thereby accepting Him, will go on to life everlasting. Those who do the work of the devil until the last day will descend to be with him.
But for now, we need to do the Lord’s work. He loves it each time a lost sheep is found, every time a prodigal son returns.
Dear heavenly Father, help us not to get caught up with the evils of the world. Help us to remember that we were once lost, and by Your grace we have been found. Help us to be a reflection of you.
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