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Can You Trust God?
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
We have all seen our share of suffering and grief. We’ve seen brutal murder, war, and terrorism in our lives. We’ve seen people we would consider to be good brought low by horrible diseases while seemingly awful people live carefree lives. We’ve seen the death of young children. It can be hard not to ask how you can trust a God who lets such things happen. And it’s not just a theoretical question, because these things happen all the time.
With idolatry running wild in Israel under King Ahab, the Lord announced through Elijah that there would be no rain. The idolaters may have laughed at first, but they would not have the last laugh. None of their unbelief could change the fact that the Lord remained in control. There was no rain. Elijah was affected by the resulting drought, too. As we heard last week, God directed him to a widow in Zarephath. When the prophet first met her, he asked for food and drink. She told him that she was down to her last little bit of flour and oil. Once that was gone, she truly did not know where the next meal would come from. She considered herself and her son to be as good as dead. Still, when Elijah spoke the Lord’s Word of promise to her, she had faith and obeyed. She made Elijah a loaf of bread, and still had flour and oil left over. As the days passed, there was always enough flour and oil left for another meal.
The widow was taking care of God’s prophet. Things seemed to be working out. And then, one day, her son died! Suddenly it didn’t look like such a great thing to have the Lord’s prophet so close by. This God was now costing her something. In her grief, she understandably lashed out at Elijah: “What have you against me, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son?” Perhaps you have felt this way toward God; I certainly have.
Let us be clear about this: truly God allows terrible things to happen in this world, and He does not explain Himself to us. This godless world will sneer or cynically shrug as much as it wants, but God remains in complete control of all things, no matter how it may appear. We cannot insist that He answer us. Elijah made no attempt to apologize for God or explain His ways. Elijah knew that the only answer to God is God. So the prophet took the dead boy into his room, laid the body on his own bed, and prayed the Lord to grant that this child live again. The prophet then stretched himself upon the body three times as he prayed that life come back into it. We hear in Ecclesiastes that, in death, “the spirit returns to God who gave it.” Even so, Elijah knew that this same God could give it back. He was asking God to give life in the midst of death, comfort in the midst of fear and anguish, and assurance of His love and salvation amid all her doubts. No amount of explaining could have been better than the moment when the prophet went downstairs, not carrying a dead corpse, but rather with a living child in his arms. “See, your son lives,” Elijah told her.
This event forms a little Old Testament Easter. The son was dead, but then he lived. Of course, this son eventually died again to this world, just as the son of the widow of Nain eventually died again. But these events meant to point forward to Jesus. See, Jesus lives! Yes, God had punished sin. He punished it fully when He laid all of it on His Son. Yet He raised Jesus from the dead; “Death no longer has dominion over Him.” Indeed, Jesus lives.
How can you trust God when He allows these awful things to happen? Put your trust in Jesus, for in Him, you live! Baptized into Christ, you have been raised with Him. And in the end, the God who raised His Son will raise you also. You live now, and you will live to all eternity! God the Father has planted this new life in you now by giving you the Word of life, the good news of Jesus Christ. He is not angry with you. He is not stringing you along, only to spring some punishment on you when you least expect it. God forgives all your sin for the sake of Christ, who nailed them to His cross. And with this forgiveness comes assurance, comfort, and life, all through God’s powerful Word. How can you trust this Lord? See, you live! It’s like the woman said to Elijah: “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the Word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” In faith, she had received through Elijah God’s assurance, comfort, and life. She was alive; so was her son.
You and I live, too. We live by faith. When tragedy strikes—and you know it will—don’t dwell on how unfair it may be. Don’t tell yourself this shouldn’t happen to you or your loved one. Don’t try to figure out how you messed up. Above all, don’t run away from God. Instead, run to the God who has clothed Himself in flesh and blood. Listen to the God who died and rose again. Like the widow in this text, the Lord has given you new life through His Word. He has sustained your every step along life’s way. Whatever happens in this world, God stands ready to keep giving you life, now and forever, in His risen Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. See, Christ lives! And because He lives, so do you! In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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