I read somewhere recently about a suggestion for a sign to
be placed at the entrance of a church.
Think about it for a moment and decide if the sign should be located on
the doors of the church you attend. It reads simply, "Perfect People Not
Allowed."
Keep the sign in your mind while I tell you the story of a
lady who was raised in a Christian home, grew up attending church with her
family, and attended a Christian college.
You might think this is a young lady who had it all together and was set
for life in her Christian journey.
However, her story is somewhat different.
She admitted that after all those years of forming a base of
faith for her life, she turned away from the church and from Christianity, all because of doubt. Part of that occurred
during a summer mission trip to Kenya where she worked with AIDS babies and spent time encouraging a
massive number of orphans. She could not
get the image out of her mind of those children who seemed to be forsaken by
God. It led to a deeper feeling of abandonment by God, a feeling which took
over her heart.
She had seen evil, and suffering, and disease, probably like
none of us could imagine. Her constant question was simply, "Why does God
let these things happen, especially to innocent children?"
After years of struggle, and years away from the church, she
did find herself in a church pew one Sunday and made a decision. Her decision
in her words, "I'll call this place home. I'll bring my doubt. I'll wait
for God in this place," brought her some comfort in knowing that we don't
have all the answers, but our duty is to be faithful to a faithful God who can
make all things new.
This story brought to my remembrance another story, this one
of a man standing before God and demanding to know why God allowed so many
starving children in our world. God had an answer that might hit close to home.
He told the man, "I have given you two basic commands. Love me, and love
one another. And now I ask you, why are there so many starving children in the
world?"
I know we do not have resources to reach everyone who has a
need. But our call to faithfulness demands that we do what we can. The real biblical principle is that when we
do what we can with what God has given us, the blessing is multiplied to reach
countless others. That is the way we
should handle doubt, fears, evil surroundings, and other things that are wrong
with this world. Be faithful and do what you can, and that blessing will be
increased by God to the lives of others.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’
teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders
and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in
common. Selling their possessions and goods,
they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day
they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their
homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising
God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their
number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47
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