Not the Way it’s Supposed to be (Romans 1:24-32 again)

When humanity rebelled against God, “Pandora’s box” was opened and a host of evils entered our world. Humanity essentially said, “We don’t want you as God in our world,” and God said, “O.K.” The moral evil that fills our world is due to the choice to be autonomous from God. Every look at the world we live in is a reminder of that choice & the tragic story we are in.

Note that three times Romans 1 says, “God gave them over” (1:24, 26, 28); God’s giving them over is in response to humanity’s abandonment of Him, not the other way around. The fallen-ness of our world is due to our choice and consequently, God’s allowance. This does not mean God is not sovereign, but rather how sovereignty works. I believe God is simply not getting everything He wants in order to respond in genuine relationship to humanity. God has "willed," against His will (desire), to "give them over," in order to give people the world that they wanted, in order that they might somehow turn back to Him. A world of famine, a world of natural disasters, a world of war, a world of violence is not the world that God wanted, nor is it the world where God’s will is always done.

This is confusing to many believers who have a high view of the sovereignty of God. Since God is “in control,” they reason, God’s will is always done. Good must always result from everything that happens, so they figure. Unfortunately, this thinking leads to passivity, apathy, and inappropriately quoting Romans 8:28 to people who have just suffered enormous loss. God is in control, and God will ultimately triumph over evil, but for now, we should be perpetually reminded that this world is not the way it is supposed to be!!!

A definition of sovereignty that says, “God’s will is always being done” dulls the pain of human suffering; it anesthetizes us to the heartache of God; it blurs the vision of the world God created and wanted; it diminishes our longing for heaven; instead of praying with longing, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,” and living as “aliens,” spiritual pilgrims in this world, we forget the destination we were created for, despise the difficulties of the journey and set up camp in this world, calling it home. This world is not the way it’s supposed to be, so let us feel the pain and tragedy of this world, while clinging to hope for the world to come, witnessing God's redemptive hand, and loving people fiercely.