October 4
________________________________________WHY ALLOW EVIL, LORD?
They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary revile,
And the enemy spurn Your name forever?
11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, destroy them!- Psalm 74:7-11
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In this psalm of lament, Asaph questions God why He has allowed His sanctuary be burned to the ground. Why was the enemy allowed to do such wicked thing? We hear the pain in Asaph’s heart as he tells the Lord all the remains of a place where they worship the Lord.
One of the questions asked by many unbelievers is this: Why does God allow evil and suffering? It is sad to hear this same question coming from God’s own people, but this is the reality that we need to face. Being a Christian doesn’t exempt us from the pains and trials in this cruel world. We all need to see the way the Lord looks at what is really going on. Our limited minds cannot fathom why God would allow such painful events to happen. Many of us believers become consumed by what we are going through that we fail to see what lesson God is teaching us from certain painful events in our lives. We get stuck in the question “why?” and fail to ask “What do I need to learn from this event or defeat?” There is always a reason why God allows suffering and evil to momentarily prevail. Maybe God wants us to use such painful events to humble us or to strengthen us for a future purpose He wants us to fulfill.
When Asaph asked God the question why he withdrew His right hands on them, he probably was overcome by grief and defeat. But the act of running to God and asking Him is a very honest humble act of dependence. He wants for God to make him see why such things happened. He knows the Lord well enough to ask why it seems like God has abandoned them. Even Jesus himself asked God “Father, why have you forsaken me?”
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REFLECTION
• Why is honesty about our pain important to God?