Why do bad things happen? - 2

BBC news report:

"Twelve-year-old Elizabeth - not her real name - was walking in fields with her brother, following an aunt who had gone ahead to work on the family's plot of land near the town of Man in north-western Ivory Coast, when they were approached by "les casques bleues", as UN peacekeepers are known.

"Elizabeth" was raped by 10 UN peacekeepers in Ivory Coast

Her brother took a biscuit from one of the men; she refused.

As Elizabeth tried to run away, one of the soldiers seized hold of her. There were 10 of them.

I spoke to Elizabeth near her home. She said: "They grabbed me and threw me to the ground and they forced themselves on me... I tried to escape but there were 10 of them and I could do nothing... I was terrified.

"Then they just left me there bleeding..."

Elizabeth was raped by 10 peacekeepers and abandoned.

Her village elders say they tried to take the case to UN officials at the camp nearby. But Domade Jean-Baptiste, one of the village chiefs, said they were made to wait for ages and then sent away.

Elizabeth's brutal rape is one of an unknown number of sexual assaults carried out by peace keepers and aid workers, the very people who are brought in to post-conflict areas around the world to protect the vulnerable...."

I was outraged when I read this. Why did this happen?

This little girl's life is effectively over. She is destined to be filled with a life of anger, hate, promiscuity, shame, failure and ruin.

Following the logic of my earlier post, it was Satan who is Evil himself, collaborating with man using his free will to choose evil.

"the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8)

The devil has come to "steal, and to kill, and to destroy". (John 10:10)

Since God has legions of angels, even one of whom could have prevented this, why did He allow this to happen?

I don't know.

Mike Ensley of Exodus writes that "our suffering matters to God... He does not coldly survey the landscape of our brokenness but 'collects our tears.' "

You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book? (Psalm 56:8)

If you are reading this, pray with me that this girl and hundreds of children like her will be healed in Jesus' name; healed in their bodies, minds, spirit and soul for the tragedy they have experienced.
Pray also that justice will be done and the evil perpetrators will be punished.
Pray that the devil will be defeated especially in that corner of the world.

Why do bad things happen?

1. God.
Yes, God punishes. But He decides life and death - when the game is over. None of the forces below can decide life and death.

2. Satan. Satan has a certain amount of power even though Jesus defeated him at the cross. Satan was allowed to wreak havoc on Job except take his life.

3. Man
Man has free will, whether to serve God or Satan.

4. Nature
God created a marvelous machine called Nature that obeys the physical laws of the Universe. Whenever people say that God caused this hurricane or that earthquake, I think they are mistaken.
This machine was set in motion and God rarely steps in to interfere - and when he does, it is called a miracle. (if an inventor created an engine and constantly interfered with its running, it would show he didnt really know what he was doing).


In Luke 13, we see that the age old question was asked which Jesus answered:

What about certain Galilean Jews who were killed by the Roman ruler Pilate in the temple - were they especially guilty?
Here, Man's choice to do evil - and to serve Satan - was the driving force.

1Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

Why did a tower in Siloam fall and kill 18 people - were they more guilty?
Here, Nature was the tool that caused this calamity.

4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

In both these two cases, God decided who would live and who would die.

How does He decide?

6Then he [Jesus] told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'

8" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "

Walk away from your sarcophagus

Break out of the calcified shell of Yourself.
Walk away from your sarcophagus.
Yes, walk away;
Away from your refuge,
And crouch naked, transparent and exposed.
Under the shadow of His wings.
There you will find rest.
There you will flow in His strength.

Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
...
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

The three-fold cord

A three-fold cord is not easily broken.

Bible study: Holy Spirit (the book of Acts)

This is a Bible study on the Holy Spirit which covers the book of Acts. I shall keep updating it as I progress, which is very slow. Am following Kay Arthur's inductive series.

the juwo is here: