Is God Trustworthy?

When General George Pickett (CSA) was asked after the war as to why the Confederacy lost, he replied, 'Well, I think the Yankees had a little something to do with it.'
If you ever find yourself asking if God can be trusted and why there is so much evil in our world, I think that the rebels on earth have a little something to do with it.

For many, it will take a jolt in a tragedy, illness or a death to create a crisis in their life of faith. 
And while we seek clarity; God will be seeking our trust.
It is then that you will find, as you trust God, He will want you to trust Him more - even in things you cannot understand.

An old analogy of how believers look at God in the trusting arena goes like this:
- A man was walking down the street and he stepped off a curb and stepped back on, barely missing a speeding bus. He later testified that God's wonderful Providence was protecting him.
- The next week, the same man stepped off the same curb and this time the bus nicked him, sent him to the hospital but only injured him. He testified that God had been merciful and spared him.
- The following week after leaving the hospital, the man stepped off the same curb and was hit by the bus. At his funeral, his friends said, 'God saw fit to take him home.'

William Shakespeare said that if you take credit for the rain, you will also be blamed for the drought. However, I cannot see nor find a justification in blaming God for things He clearly opposes whether it is a man dumb enough to walk into the street without looking or mass genocide.
It's not God's fault that there is evil in the world because God did not introduce evil into the world.
That blame falls squarely on the shoulders of men - the rebels in the world.

But somehow we don't blame humanity, we tend to blame God when crisis hits.
When Napoleon was marching across Europe and threatening the Russian capital of Moscow, Leo Tolstoy couldn't believe it. He searched for an answer as to how God would allow this tragedy.
The obvious answer is that Napoleon was a conquering warrior and the time was right; as people fell under his charismatic spell - he took advantage of it as he ravaged Europe.
In War and Peace, Tolstoy could only conclude that Napoleon's coming catastrophe was due to the 'irresistible tide of destiny.' In other words - it was because God allowed it.

The greater your growth personally with God, the greater questions you will have. The better personal relationship with God, the growing, unnerving questions.
A faithful person will grow to see life from the perspective of trust, not fear.
As cancer, a death, an illness or any other tragedy or trial hits, a faithful person will know God has a greater purpose in the suffering because God still reigns.

I recently read and was reminded that John Donne was the Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London during the 17th Century. During his time there, he watched three waves of Bubonic plague sweep through England.
The third wave killed 40,000 people alone.
During that time, Donne was also diagnosed, but that diagnosis was wrong. 
Yet, it was during that time for 6 weeks, on the threshold of death, he listened to the Church bells ring - announcing each death, tolling each fatality, wondering if he was next.
From him we received these words, 'Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.'

While I have never been in the throes of death like those facing the Plague, in my experience I did come to learn something about faith and trusting God.
The final and ultimate question of life: 'Is God Trustworthy?'
And the answer is 'yes.'

We should trust God, or trust nothing at all. 
For if God cannot be trusted with our very souls, we would live in constant fear. Instead, God expects our fear of Him to produce a holy awe; not an irrational terror.
Of course He can be trusted, for He alone is worthy.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.