Tuesday, April 2 - Luke 13

Sin and Suffering  (Luke 13:1-4)

  What is the correlation between sin and suffering?  Do we go through difficulties, hardships, pains and struggles because God is punishing us?  Or do bad things just happen because we live in a sinful world?

   Jesus makes plain, here, that, while sin frequently leads to suffering, we can't always point the finger at a specific sinner (or act of iniquity) and declare his hardship or suffering as a result of this specific sin.  Often, bad things just happen because we live in a fallen, broken world.

   However, we have a God who longs to help us in our time of need.  Over and over again, despite human sinfulness and guilt, God reaches out to bring strength and wholeness.  When Adam and Eve sinned, God didn't give up on them.  Instead, He created a plan of salvation that included the suffering and death of His only-begotten.  He was willing to suffer Himself rather than have us bear the ultimate horrific consequences of our failure. 

   The long and short of it is, that when hardship or tragedy strikes, we do best if we don't always try to point the finger of blame.  We do better if we fall on our knees and ask the Omnipotent God, who loves us, to guide and rescue us.  "Call upon Me and I will deliver you," says God. (Ps. 50:15)  

  Thank God that the Psalmist's words are true (Psalm 103):

¹⁰He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;