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Common Grace and Troubling Realities

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At times, we rejoice in the miraculous and saving grace of God, chiefly made known in and through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In those times, we can almost taste heavenly wine on our lips. The sun standing still in the sky seems a small feat for Omnipotence. Eternal glory is as real as any earthly country we might visit. But in other seasons, when seeing only dimly is our lot, we struggle to rejoice in anything. In such dusky days it often helps to rest our straining eyes, looking not so much up into distant celestial realities, or even to millennia-old events, but to the subtler graces close at hand.

Hebrews says that “Christ upholds the universe by the word of His power.” And Psalm 145:9, “The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that He has made.” That’s a dominant theme in Scripture: God is here, He is working, and He is good and merciful. It’s helpful, though, to make those ideas more concrete. What does it mean to uphold the universe? How is God good to all? How is His mercy over all revealed? As we answer these questions, fighting to see in the dim light, another dawn slowly rises to bless. 

A google search on the topic of our solar system’s finely tuned intricacies raises an important question: can this be the result of thoughtless, unguided forces that are the result of ultimately nothing? Or, might the Bible be true and an eternal Person be responsible for the tilt of this earth, which combined with its distance from a star the size and temperature of our sun maintains seasons that keep our planet beautiful, breathing, and free from burning up or freezing? 

The former results in unanswerable questions at best and impossibilities at worst—for example, thoughtless, unguided forces produced not just something from absolutely nothing, but something predictable and beneficial. The latter nevertheless results in an opportunity to see beyond what’s visible: calling for faith in the invisible Creator (a faith, though, that does not render absurd the rest of knowledge). 

God is upholding this finely tuned, beneficial, and most often (even post-fall) good universe. We can see this whenever the sun or moon appears to rise and set; we can feel it as we are pleasantly warmed and cooled; and we may rejoice in it as we regularly stand at the edge of the ocean without fear of being consumed, for our moon is working. Predictable tides and unsurprising harvests produce many wonderful possibilities and realities. Food and work and drink and play and rest—season in and season out. We drink and eat the upholding goodness of God.

However, it would be dishonest to even suggest that the horrible evil, pain, and suffering—suffering we are aware of but can barely comprehend and would do anything to forget about or avoid—does not at times challenge our perceptions of this common grace. Another simple Google search reveals the heart-breaking statistics of global deaths due to starvation. Sex trafficking is an enormous underground business that exploits vast numbers of young women, men, and children, infuriatingly including infants—human beings traded and sold to deranged perverts. As we enjoy peace, comfort, recreation, and even luxury, many of the weakest and most vulnerable humans are suffering horrible harm. 

So, what should we do with these seemingly conflicting realities? God’s common grace is evident in the world, but nauseating evil exists. God is good, but children are suffering in ways that would cause an average psychopath to shudder and cry. A cheap but necessary question to ask is which is more common in the world: goodness or evil? Honesty replies, “goodness.” Most are not starving. Most are not kidnapped and forced into sex work. Most are not suffering. We should then ask “why?” And we might ask not only why there’s much more goodness left in this world but why so many folks respond rightly disgusted to the horrors present in the world—I suggest it is because of the common grace of God’s law written on our hearts.  

You will be hard pressed to find better, more thorough, and more defensible answers to these questions than what the Bible provides. Assuming the entirety of God’s word is true and accurate, we may begin to understand the otherwise incomprehensible. But if you’re at all like me, instead of trying to fully comprehend every implication of Isaiah 47:5—“I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity”—or plumb the depths of God purposing what He detests, you may do well to simply take another deep breath and pray, “God your ways are higher than mine.” Or you may find some comfort standing at the edge of the ocean realizing how you are not but quickly could be drown or even from that shore be tossed into outer space. 

Feel the cool water rush over your feet and say, “Lord, I’m safe. None of that chaos is happening because you are infinitely strong, upholding, and kind.” Or take a sip of your favorite beverage, a bite of your favorite food, and rejoice, “God, thank you for tasty food and drink; it didn’t have to be this way.” As the light begins to shine, and God’s eternal goodness comes back into focus, praise Jesus for His life, death, and resurrection; for His living intercession and upholding; and for His mystical nearness that gives life and goodness to our most common experience. And pray, “Lord, you have redeemed. Use me in your redemption, even to save the worst. You will redeem all of creation, let me rejoice in that work.”