Old post made new

I wrote this post back in December of '07, but never published it. I just realized that now, so I thought I would share my ponderings of the past.

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I just watched a movie titled "In the Presence of Mine Enemies" about Jews living in a ghetto in Warsaw, Poland during WWII. It graphically depicts the brutality of the Nazis toward the Jews and some of the terrible atrocities that were perpetrated against the Jews. Of the 450,000 that originally were sent there, at the end of the war, only a few thousand were left.

The one question that I kept on uttering was "How could you let this happen, God?" I know that we live in a world that is under the curse of sin and the fall; it is hard to see God's hand in such terrible atrocities. At one point, one of the main characters, a rabbi, asks the question "I have spent my life in supplication for others... Why do we keep on praying to a God who has no ears and no hands?" I know that is not true, but it certainly seems that way at times. Such depravity, such cruelty - where is God? God's chosen people are being massacred!

And it did not end - or even begin - during WWII. There have been so many similar tragedies throughout human history; I barely know any of them. We live in a fallen world. Oh God, will you come soon? Will you put an end to this?

As much as this grieves me, I take comfort in the fact that it grieves you even more - so, so much more than it could ever grieve me. You were with each child of yours that sufferred at the hands of the Nazis; you were with each child of yours during the Rwandan genocide. If learning about these atrocities brings tears to my eyes, how many more tears has God shed throughout history? How large are his tears? They must have flooded the world by now.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

You hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise.

I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness."

How great is your love, O Lord! You could make us robots - we would worship you, treat each other well, never utter a harsh word. But we would not do so by choice. There would be no beauty in it. There would be no beauty in our worship to you. We would not be able to choose to love you. And so in love, because you wanted us to have a choice and to experience the beauty of love, you also allowed us to experience the pain and hurt of hate. You experienced the pain and hurt of hate as humanity raised their fists against you and killed your son, and then turned their backs on you. All because you love us.

Is that true? It's incomprehensible. Lord, I continue to trust and believe that you are a God of love, of compassion, of justice, of righteousness, of truth.