“Anything that makes you need God is a blessing!” — Thank was what was said on the car radio by a well-known Bible teacher [1] as I was driving across Florida to visit a friend dying of cancer.

That is more than inaccurate, though it aims at and woefully misses a biblical truth taught in the Scriptures.  It is a dangerous and damaging teaching.

I can imagine all kinds of injustice and horrific deeds of men that makes people need God and even causes them to seek His help, and those actions were wicked and evil!  They were not a blessing, nor a blessing from God!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

The clear understanding of the passage states that there are gifts that are not good and perfect, and that not all gifts come from above. The good and perfect come from His gift shop. The bad and evil come from a different owner’s shop!

The good and perfect come from the Father of light, and some come from the prince of darkness.  That truth is unvarying — no shadow of any turning will ever be found when it comes to what the Lord God gives!

Some not-so-good gifts come from powers of darkness and evil, including wealth/money, popularity, power, talents, position, resources, and prominence.  Those “gifts of darkness” have been given to “devour people as a lion” in life and living.  Those “gifts” have perpetrated and perpetuated some of the most horrific acts of evil.  Vladimir Putin was given many of those gifts — from the prince of darkness.

And check out that verse in its context — “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.” The Lord was never a party to the sins that tempt or too often overcome mankind.

Tell the families of Uvalde, Texas, whose children were killed, the parents of a young five-year-old child who was sexually molested, the wife whose husband has shattered their marriage, and the friend of mine who is dying of cancer (likely due to the unsafe environmental factory conditions) that what they are going through is a blessing, a blessing FROM God!

The underlying ideology of this kind of thinking and such statements has led to all kinds of passivity and inappropriate actions.  Poor-to-terrible counseling, wrong-doing, social injustice, and horrific abuse have been left unaddressed (and even justified as biblically appropriate and justified) because of this type of thinking — “We need to see this as from the hand of God.” [2]

Yes, I understand that God uses sin, sinlessly.  That God can still bless us, and does, midst our sin and the sins of others.  But the sin was sinful, it is not therefore acceptable to be left unaddressed, and it is not a blessing from His hand.  Any attempt to promote some passivity towards the sinful actions of men is but an argument to allow it to be more acceptable and/or for it to continue unaddressed!

I understand the truth that we can find rest for our souls during the most overwhelming times of life in Jesus, but not in some belief that or Lord was even close to complicit, found any pleasure in, or took some functioning part in the evil actions of men.

√  Rather, I find comfort in that He fully understands my pain, grief, sorrow, heartbreak, deep anguish, anger, and hurt — and sympathizes and empathizes with all that I feel.

√  I find comfort in the sure and confident hope that He will fully address the evil and wicked actions of men, in this life and/or in the life to come!

√ I find comfort in the sure and confident hope that He has fully planned and provided for an everlasting world to come where evil and the evil of men will be forever vanquished.

√  I find comfort in a humility of mind that recognizes that I cannot explain all that happens or is allowed to happen.

√  I find comfort in the understanding that there are mysteries and secrets known only to God, that we have not been told — that there is far more about God than contained in pages of Scripture!

√  I find comfort in that what God allows to happen is thoroughly consistent with all that we do and can understand, though we cannot reconcile them in our minds and hearts in this twisted and fallen world.

√  I find comfort in that we can run to Him in time of need (Matthew 11:28-30), and He can give me rest and peace which passes the peace I receive by understanding (Philippians 4:7) — that it passes the peace that I can and do get at times with understanding. [3]

• No, I can’t explain why your child died at such a young age.
• I wish I could explain why dad left, or you were put up for adoption, or mom was addicted, dad was an alcoholic, but I have no good explanation.
• I don’t know why the marriage / family life was so pot marked with wrong-doing and evil/wickedness.
• I have no explanation for why that house was swept away in the storm, and the house next door was untouched.
• I can’t understand the Holocaust.
• I have no knowledge of whether God is judging America by a pandemic or why your loved one died from it at the age of 32.
• I don’t know why you live in America and others in Ukraine.

Nevertheless, I’ll hold onto the humility of mind that understands the biblical truth that we can find rest for our souls during the most overwhelming mysteries of life — in Jesus.

I need not adopt some twisted view of God’s sovereignty that somehow makes the wrongful, wicked, and/or evil actions of men more acceptable, a blessing, and/or anything less than wrong-to-evil — in order to find that rest! 

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1. Link to Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s “Revive Our Hearts” radio ministry on June 9, 2022

2. It is founded on a false and/or twisted understanding of the sovereignty of God, too often rooted in a theological ideology promoted by such men as John Mac Arthur and John Piper — some of the most prolific speakers, writers, and influential men over the past 40 years!

There is a connection between the present-day controversies involving John Mac Arthur and John Piper, concerning the abusive environments and/or teachings and their theological ideology!

There is a reason, not the only reason, that some ministries and local churches have failed to address wrong-doing and abuse, and it goes back to a twisted view of God’s sovereignty and a twisted theological ideology!

3. There was a day when Joseph got “understanding” as to why all that was happening was happening.  At times we get that kind of understanding, providing a measure of peace.