<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Untitled Document Sorrow Comes Quickly
"Man who is born of woman is of few days, and full of sorrow" Job 14:1.
Why do things turn out badly for so many people? What did they do to deserve such horrible things in their lives? The great character of the Bible asked these same questions. The great preacher asked the same questions about life, and determined that all is vanity.
In order to determine why things go bad, we can point to one event in human history where it all began. When Eve ate and gave to Adam so that he also ate the forbidden fruit. This action brought sin into the world. Sin not only is transgression of the law, but sin also is a destroyer of good. God has good plans for His people, but sin gets in the way and makes the way hard.
We look and see people tortured and killed because of the color of their skin, or the garments they wear, or the God they choose to worship. There is no doubt that some people are evil and this evil is promoted so much that they do not even know that what they do is evil.
This is part of a culture. Culture is inbred so deeply, that anything other is despised. Even the truth takes second place when it comes to culture. People allow their culture to dictate hatred and animosity. They allow culture to promote what the Bible calls sin, and given a choice between the truth and their culture; culture wins out every time. When children are taught hate from the crib, it is hard to reason with them that kindness is much better. When cultures are steeped in fornication, they cannot see that God has forbidden such. Sure there is a proper course for sexual pleasure, and if someone follows God's plan, it becomes something beautiful. The Bible teaches us how to treat our fellow man, even when they differ in doctrine, practice, or application. God never promotes hatred or animosity. God always promotes a demonstration of love towards all. Yes, God has a way with dealing with the evil people of this world. Sooner or later they will get what is coming to them.
Trying to understand why people mistreat us should help us to cope with what happens. We are treated like a mangy dog by those who are supposed to love us, and we begin to wonder what our problem is. Even depression can set in, and that is a whole nother ballgame. The fact is; we are not the problem, they are. If people would just behave as the Bible instructs, life would be better for everyone. But then, sin sticks its ugly face in there and things turn out bad. And unless people return to serving God, it will only get worse.
What is truly sad is to see congregations of God's people behave in such a way. Actually, if they behave like this, they are not truly God's people. Some members of churches act no different than the playground bullies some of us had to contend with while growing up. It can be so easy to forget that God commands love, but turn around and treat a fellow saint with contempt. In 1 John 4:20, we read: "If someone says 'I love God', and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen". Remember that Revelation 21:8 tells us where liars will go. All things turn into sorrow when God's ways are not followed. So learn from God, and learn to love others.
By Carey Scott