why... and... because...

She texted me this morning with the news...

Brussels got bombed. Airport & train station.

The text... it starts me praying and thinking...

Praying for those suffering...
for the rescuers...
for hearts to turn to God...
for God to reveal any other evil before it succeeds...

Thinking about a loved one who just bought tickets to Europe...
about the possibility of more bombings...
the beginning of "labor pains" signifying the last days...
and thinking about what I read in Jeremiah this morning...

Maybe I've spent too much time in the prophets recently...
but as I do... I see the current state of the nations... laid out over the pages of Scripture...

Destruction... wars... rumors of wars...
and the resounding question from those suffering...
Why...?

God's answer... it's always the same...
Because... you have forsaken Me...

Who is the wise man who may understand this?

To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, 

that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined

and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through it?

And the Lord says, Because they have forsaken My law,

which I set before them, and have not listened to and obeyed

My voice or walked in accordance with it...

Jeremiah 9:12-13 Amp

(my emphasis)

And all of the sudden... it seems crystal clear...
the answer to every Why...? that springs from calamity...
is Because... we have forsaken Him...

In Eden... we broke the one law...
and let a world of hurt into the universe...

During the time of Noah... who found favor in God's eyes...
everyone else was consumed with thoughts of evil...

The Israelites found themselves wandering forty extra years...
to enter the Promised Land... because they refused to trust God...

Even after entering the Promised Land...
everyone did what was right in their own eyes...

The forsaking of the Lord...
led to destruction... exile... affliction...

Today it's no different...
for individuals or nations...
suffering comes... because we have forsaken the Lord...

The wonder of wonder...
is why haven't we been abandoned by Him...?
why hasn't He left us to our own devises...?

Because... He... is... love...

His steadfast love...
does not allow Him to abandon...
His steadfast love...
compelled Him to send His Son...
to pay for our sins...
to make a way for us to live...
to restore... and redeem... all that we broke...

Why... and... Because...
it's a two-headed coin...

Which side will you choose...?

As for me...
I choose Him...

I choose to see the wonder of His love...
I choose His redeeming power...
I choose to trust His Way...

Father God... thank You for rescuing me...

Thank You... for all the work that You are about...

Thank You... for not abandoning Your creation...

Thank You... for continuing to seek the lost...

Let Your Light shine out of darkness...

Amen...