Whoa! Lots of Thoughts!

So, why DOES God allow things like this to happen? Over the course of the last few years, as I've read through the scripture, I've come to the conclusion that the better question is really, "Why does God allow any GOOD thing to happen to otherwise bad/sinful people?" I think what we fail to see when we ask the question "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" is that we are not good people. It is only His restraining hand of mercy and grace that keeps our whole society from going mad and being given over to sin. Can you imagine what would happen if every person was totally given over to Satan to do as he wished at any moment? Our society would be utter chaos, and we would all be destroying one another. It is only the grace of God that keeps us from doing this. We tend to think we're entitled to something, and so when anything goes wrong, we fail to thank God for all the things that are right in our lives.

We know that we are all sinful beings and we deserve the full wrath of God. I think He designs these types of situations so that we get little glimpses of what that could be like. After all, doesn't this story give you, as a Christian, renewed faith and hope as you consider your own life? Doesn't it make you realize the greatness of grace and that, without the mercy of God, you too could be the Hitler who destroyed and was accountable for the lives of so many? What if you were given over to your sin? What would you do? Praise God for his restraining hand of mercy! Praise God that, to date, none of us has been so deceived by the lies of this world that we have murdered in such a way and died a hopeless death. Obviously, we could look at ourselves with pride and assume that it was our own efforts and choices that kept us out of such terrible things. But in reality, we can only give credit where credit is due and PRAISE GOD FOR THE GRACE HE GIVES US in directing us as we make any good choice, for without this grace, the truth is that we would choose to do something just as awful as Hitler.

Despite all these things, it's difficult to see how exactly this fits into God's plan to ultimately glorify Himself; that is, until we see that God uses these situations to show us what life is like without Him. We see what we would do if we were turned over fully to our sinful nature (Hitler and other German leaders). We see the deceit that we would fall prey to (those who believed Hitler and followed him). We also see the hopelessness that comes when we don't have the Lord in our lives (as the Jews)--when we don't have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and assurance that the Messiah has already come and that we are going with Him for eternity no matter how our lives end here on earth.

Regarding Crystal's comments:
It is definitely true that these things are still happening throughout the world and that it seems as though no one is paying attention. As I was reading the book, even Elie Wiesel mentioned several times that terrible things would happen, and after a few days, they would all be back to life as usual. As I was reading, I saw the connection immediately to our lives. And then I began to wonder...

What would it take to actually change us? You know, to turn our attention from our self-centered desires and actually DO SOMETHING? Is it the case that we have to be so blind as to overlook the obvious until it happens to us or someone very close to us? It seems as though this is what Wiesel was trying to get across. He mentioned several times that life went back to normal all too quickly and that he and his people missed warnings and freedom because they were too wrapped up in their day-to-day lives to pay attention. Isn't this just how we are? Don't we fail to see that there is more to life than earning a paycheck, keeping the house, hanging out with friends, etc.? I mean, all of these things are definitely included in what we were created to do, but they are not ALL that we were created to do.

And I think of my own life, and I realize that all too often, I do not even pray earnestly for those things that I see going wrong. How often do I spend even 10 minutes at a time praying for lost friends or for situations going on around the world? Not often enough, I can tell you. So I guess the question is, will I read this book and move on with life as usual, or will I pay attention and begin to do something different?

And to follow up on Tiffany's comments, it seems like even if your stance is that military action is not the answer, there are millions of things we can do. Options include praying (the most important thing--as you mentioned), feeding, clothing, Biblical training, providing Bibles and other materials, letters of encouragement, and talking to our government officials. Of course, there are more dangerous options, like helping people escape persecution, etc. People wonder why missionaries and military personnel go to dangerous places to help those in need thereby risking their own lives, but isn't this a funny question. What if our country was under attack? Wouldn't we hope and even expect that people from other countries would come to our aid, helping to protect and encourage us?

A Note About the Forward:
Did you guys catch the last paragraph of the forward? I think I've read it about 15 times now. This is something we need to think about... as believers, how would we answer one who has gone through this type of situation? I keep rereading this paragraph realizing that I am called to have an answer for the hope that I profess. So how do you answer these types of questions? I'm going to think more about this and hopefully develop something more coherent than that which is in my head right now. I'll post again when I've thought it through, but if you all have thought about this, please provide insight as I wrestle with this.