Chapter Sixteen - Why Does God Allow Evil, Pain and Suffering
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1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter is designed to introduction the reader to an explanation of the presence of evil in the world, as well as pain and suffering. These are some of the major problems for a believer as he talks about a God of love and compassion, while trying to explain how God could permit heart-rending circumstances of pain and suffering in this world. The chapter is divided into three parts, they are:
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2. EXISTENCE AND EXPLANATION OF EVIL
2.1 The Presence of Evil in the Universe
The presence of evil in the universe became apparent when Lucifer and his followers revolted against God. Although the fallen angels were corrupted because of moral evil, Scripture does not indicate any maladjustments in, or curse upon the universe as a result of the rebellion. The description of Lucifer's revolt is in Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:11-15. At this point, Lucifer became Satan (or the opposer of the purposes of God). The rest of the fallen angels were placed in chains in outer darkness (2 Peter 2:4), awaiting judgment by believers (1 Corinthians 6:3).
2.2 Evil in the World with the Fall of Man
When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, the only injunction God placed upon them was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
When Satan tempted Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit and she, in turn, gave also to her husband Adam who ate of it, sin entered into the human race. Our original parents now had a sin nature which they passed on to all of their descendants. Moral evil had now entered mankind, affecting every area of the being. Man across the centuries has perpetrated against his fellow man, and nature, some of the worst kinds of evil.
The curse upon the ground did not refer merely to weeds in the garden (Genesis 3:17-18), but rather to physical evil, which affected all of nature. This included the harmful effects of bacteria and germs that plague plant life, animals, and man. Even the genes are affected, so that diseases are passed on from generation to generation. We do have the assurance that one day this curse will be lifted, when God institutes His kingdom of peace on earth (Romans 8:19f; Revelation 21-22).
2.3 Explanations of Evil
Some people think that evil is only an illusion. If evil is only an illusion, then we are still faced with a question.
"How are we to explain the appearance of evil in God's world, as well as the presence of suffering?"
It appears we have destroyed any necessity for moral effort. Why strive for a moral life if evil is only an illusion? We might as well forget trying to be moral if evil is not real. It is simply out of harmony with the facts of experience. For example, is cancer a sickness in the mind? No! It is present in the body, and it is preposterous to refuse to acknowledge what is real in one's own body. What the Bible says about it is incorrect. However, God says that evil is real, and many times He has to act in judgment to restrain it.
2.4 Evil Is Explained on the Basis That God Is Finite
Among some of the newer liberal theologians, there is a struggle to understand how a God of love and goodness can permit evil in the world. These men try to solve the problem by stating that God is not omnipotent, because He seemingly cannot prevent evil. This position makes a choice between God's goodness and omnipotence, and accepts only His goodness.
In reply, we say:
To state that God cannot prevent evil, but can work His way around it, is only a sophisticated short cut to avoid the dilemma of God's goodness and omnipotence. We recognize the dilemma, but this is no way to solve it.
If there is any limitation to God, then we also destroy the theory on which this thinking stands. How do we guarantee the goodness of God? The holiness of God is what guarantees His character, but this also means that an honest evaluation of who God is must include a compelling recognition that He is also omnipotent, along with His goodness.
The concept of a finite God is clearly unbiblical. One of His basic attributes is that He is omnipotent. Because He chooses not to act in this world at times to control evil is no sign that He is finite and limited.
2.5 Evil and Suffering Are in the World As a Result of Sin, and Are a Just Recompense for It
Some Scriptures emphasize that God will judge the evil acts of individuals as well as the nation (in the Old Testament), and that suffering comes when people break His moral laws (See Leviticus 26:14; Deuteronomy 28:15; Psalm 1:6; Exodus 23:21; Jeremiah 7:5-7; 17:5-8; Malachi 3:8-11).
When men and nations do right, then God's blessings will be showered upon them (See Leviticus 26:1-13; Deuteronomy 28:1-13; Psalm 1:2-3; Proverbs 3:9-10; Malachi 3:10).
What about individuals in the Old Testament where this principle seems to break down? God always promised to bless both individuals and the nation if they would do right, and judgment would surely come when there was wickedness. We know that when the land of Israel produced abundantly, it was a sign that the relationship between God and Israel was right. Drought and starvation were signs that the spiritual relationship between God and the nation had broken down.
There were individuals in Israel, however, who did not seem to fit into a neat pattern. Many such situations abound across the pages of the Old Testament: Job; Asaph (Psalm 73); Naboth (1 Kings 21). The purpose of these exceptions appears to be to speak to individual hearts, and were used of God. We cannot explain all the circumstances, because we do not know all of the facts behind these situations.
2.6 An Attempt to Establish a Biblical Explanation
When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden, God warned them that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would surely die. When Adam and Eve partook of this fruit, the consequences were disastrous.
Even though God restored Adam and Eve, their sin nature was transmitted to their descendants, and a pattern became evident. Man has tremendous potential for good as a believer, but he also has the capacity for devastating circumstances.
Once Adam and Eve had sinned, it was just as Satan had told them (Genesis 3:5), they were to be as God, knowing good and evil. In actuality, Adam and Eve were moral creatures, created by God to know the difference between good and evil. God wanted our first parents to exercise the capacity for discernment to make the right choice by not eating the forbidden fruit, while Satan tempted them to choose contrary to God's purposes. When Adam and Eve ate of this fruit, they both slipped out of the circle of God's will. The only way back into that circle was through an atoning sacrifice, not only for Adam and Eve, but for any of their descendants. Mankind has the capacity for fellowship with God, but all the dedication and thanksgiving offerings of all the religions are to no avail, because self-effort will never enable anyone to get back into the circle of God's will.
Once Adam and Eve, and their descendants, are outside the circle of God's will, there are, in a sense, two forces let loose in the universe: God, and man. Each can exercise free will. Man can either choose the salvation of the Lord, or tragically embark on a course completely contrary to God's will.
In order to permit man to be free, God has, in a temporary sense, limited Himself. It is only because of His grace that He does not choose to act in judgment on every evil perpetrated by man. But God is never inherently limited; His limitation is self-imposed.
At any time, however, God can enter into the stream of human relationships and, through a number of means, judge men and nations, thereby restraining evil. God can also arrange circumstances so that a man will eventually come to faith, even before the person is aware of it. God is free to act, yet He is also free to limit Himself to let man make his moral choices. One day, as we have seen already, God will take the initiative to remove the curse from the earth (Romans 8:21). After the messianic kingdom of peace, evil will no longer exist in the new Heavens and Earth (Revelation 21-22). Every redeemed man will be in the circle of God's will. In that day, man's and God's wills will be merged, never again to separate.
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3. THE PROBLEM OF PAIN AND SUFFERING
3.1 Some Observations
Pain and suffering, the results of evil, are at times difficult to explain. Great catastrophes, when thousands suffer and die, raise all kinds of questions. Unbelievers, and even God's children, raise recriminations against Him. How can we even talk about a good God in the midst of these circumstances?
Admittedly, we as believers do not have the answers to all of these questions of human misery. The classic example is Job, who did not know what took place in Heaven (Job 1-2) before and during the time of his illness. We simply have to recognize that many times, life is like looking at a rug from the underside. We can barely make out the pattern, in the midst of a crazy patch of yarn of all colors. It is only as we look at the top side of the rug that we can see the pattern, the warm glowing colors of the reds and yellows, set off by the dark and somber hues of blacks and dark blues.
Life is such that only God sees the entire pattern, and the best that we can do when we come to unexplainable circumstances is to bow down before the Lord, and realize that the just God of earth can only do what is right in the long run.
3.2 Pain and Suffering - Penal Judgment
One good example, to demonstrate various reasons the Bible assigns for pain and suffering, is in the book of Job. Job's three friends analyzed why Job was suffering. Eliphaz said that "those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it" (Job 4:8-9). Bildad declared that because Job was talking too much, trying to justify himself, that he was only covering some secret sin. His appeal to Job was to be pure and upright (Job 8:6). Zophar was so incensed by what he felt was Job's unrepentance, that he immediately charged him with sin. He thought that Job was talking too much, boasting, and going through a farce, claiming to be innocent (Job 11:1-4).
These three friends, however, demonstrated that God does judge the sin of unbelievers in penal judgment. Many times, illnesses or other tragedies befall them, and such people suffer greatly. The only problem was that, while the analyses of the friends were right, their applications were wrong! Job was not an unbeliever, to be judged penally.
3.3 Pain and Suffering - Discipline
There is another reason why we see pain and suffering. When believers are disobedient, God must occasionally discipline them.
Interestingly, there was present a fourth, younger individual, Elihu, who waited until Job's three friends were finished with their charges. He then took the three to task, because they had not proved their point in regard to Job. Elihu insisted that Job, as a select child of God, was suffering because of some secret sin (Job 33:19-22). One reason for regarding Job as a child of God is that Elihu talked of the angel who is a mediator for those who belong to God (Job 33:23); his task was to restore God's errant children.
But how does Elihu apply what he is teaching? In a sense, he is telling Job that as a select child of God, he needs to respond to the care and compassion of God, repent of his sin, and come back into fellowship with Him! But Job was not suffering because of some deep sin for which he had to repent.
There is a New Testament counterpart to Elihu's reasoning regarding discipline. At the communion table, believers are told to judge themselves and make things right before they partake of the Lord's table. Paul declared that because many had not done so, they were weak and sick, and some were even taken out of this world into the Lord's presence (1 Corinthians 11:29-32).
3.4 Pain and Suffering - For the Glory of God
God gave Satan permission, up to a certain point, to cause Job intense suffering. He became a battle-ground between God and Satan. Through it all, Job learned that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Job 28:28). In the end, he could trust God simply because He is omnipotent and all wise. Job learned a precious truth concerning trust, and in turn, he has encouraged many of God's people, who also suffer for no apparent reason.
Another New Testament counterpart is the account of the man who was born blind (John 9). The disciples immediately applied the reasoning of Job's three friends, and asked Jesus whether the blind man had sinned; or perhaps it was his parents who had sinned and in turn brought such suffering upon their son! Jesus replied it was evil to even think in such a way.
He declared instead that the tragic circumstances of this man were such that eventually "the works of God might be displayed in him" (John 9:3). After the blind man had been healed, God used the miracle as a testimony to many, including the religious leaders. After this man's salvation, no doubt many were brought to the Lord.
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4. WHY DOES GOD ALLOW EVIL, PAIN AND SUFFERING?
Why God allows suffering and evil is one of the most pressing questions of our time. More pressing than the question of miracles or science and the Bible is the poignant problem of:
In the classic statement of the problem: either God is all-powerful but not all-good, and therefore doesn't stop evil; or he is all-good but unable to stop evil, in which case he is not all-powerful. The general tendency is to blame God for evil and suffering and to pass on all responsibility for it to him.
4.1 No Easy Answers
We must never forget that when God created Adam and Eve, He created them perfect. They were not created evil. Adam and Eve did, however, as human beings, have ability to obey or disobey God. Had they obeyed God there would never have been a problem. They would have lived an unending life of blissful fellowship with God and enjoyment of Him and His creation. This is what God intended for them when He created them. In fact, however, they rebelled against God - and every one of us from that time until now has ratified that rebellion. "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). We must remember that people are responsible for sin - not God.
But many ask, "Why didn't God make us so we couldn't sin?" To be sure, he could have, but let's remember that if he had done so we would no longer be human beings, we would be machines. How would you like to be married to a mechanical doll? Every morning and every night you could pull the string and get the beautiful words, "I love you." But who would want that? There would never be any love, either. Love is voluntary. God could have made us like robots, but we would have ceased to be human. God apparently thought it worth the risk of creating us as we are. In any case he did it and we must face the realities.
4.2 God Could Stamp Out Evil!
Jeremiah reminds us, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail" (Lamentations 3:22). A time is coming when He will stamp out evil in the world. The devil and all his works will come under eternal judgment. In the meantime, God's unchanging love and grace prevail and his marvelous offer of mercy and pardon is still open to everyone.
If God were to stamp out evil today, He would do a complete job. We want Him to stop war but stay remote from us. If God were to remove evil from the universe, His action would be complete and would have to include our lies and personal impurities, our lack of love and our failure to do good. Suppose God were to decree that tonight all evil would be removed from the universe - who of us would still be here after midnight?
4.3 What God Has Done About the Evil
He has done the most dramatic, costly and effective thing possible by giving His Son to die for evil human beings. It is possible for people to escape God's inevitable judgment on sin and evil. It is also possible to have its power broken by entering into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The ultimate answer to the problem of evil, at the personal level, is found in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
To speculate about the origin of evil is endless. No one has the full answer. It belongs in the category of "the secret things that belong to the Lord our God" (Deuteronomy 29:29).
Part of our problem arises from our limited definition of the word good and our applying this term to God. Hugh Evan Hopkins observes:
"In his famous essay on nature, John Stuart Mill clearly sets out the problem with which thinkers all through history have wrestled: If the law of all creation were justice and the Creator omnipotent, then in whatever amount suffering and happiness might be dispensed to the world, each person's share would be exactly proportioned to that person's good or evil deeds. No human being would have a worse lot than another without worse deserts; accident or favoritism would have no part in such a world, but every human life would be playing out a drama constructed like a perfect moral tale. Not even on the most distorted and contracted theory of good which ever was framed by religious or philosophical fanaticism can the government of nature be made to resemble the work of a being at once both good and omnipotent."
The problem arises largely from the belief that a good God would reward each man according to his deserts and that an almighty God would have no difficulty in carrying this out. The fact that rewards and punishments, in the way of happiness and discomfort, appear to be haphazardly distributed in this life drives many to question either the goodness of God or His power.
4.4 Exact-Reward Concept
But would God be good if He were to deal with each person exactly according to His behavior? Consider what this would mean in your own life! The whole of the Gospel as previewed in the Old Testament and broadcast in stereo-television in the New Testament is that God's goodness consists not only in his justice but also in his love, mercy and kindness. How thankful we and all people should be that "he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the Heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him" (Psalm 103:10-11).
Such a concept of the goodness of God is also based on the faulty assumption that happiness is the greatest good in life. Happiness is usually thought of in terms of comfort. True, genuine, deep-seated happiness, however, is something much more profound than the ephemeral, fleeting enjoyment of the moment. And true happiness is not precluded by suffering. Sometimes, in his infinite wisdom, God knows that there are things to be accomplished in our character that can be brought only through suffering. To shield us from this suffering would be to rob us of a greater good. The apostle Peter refers to this when he says, "And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast" (1 Peter 5:10).
To see the logical consequence of Mill's exact reward concept of God in His dealings with us, we need only turn to Hinduism. The Law of Karma says that all of the actions of life today are the result of the actions of a previous life. Blindness, poverty, hunger, physical deformity, outcastness and other social agonies are all the outworking of punishment for evil deeds in a previous existence.
It would follow that any attempt to alleviate such pain and misery would be an interference with the just ways of God. This concept is one reason why the Hindus did so little for so long for their unfortunates. Some enlightened Hindus today are talking about and working toward social progress and change, but they have not yet reconciled this new concept with the clear, ancient doctrine of Karma, which is basic to Hindu thought and life.
This Karma concept, however, does serve as a neat, simple, clearly understood explanation of suffering: suffering is all the result of previous evil-doing.
But is there not a sense in which it is true that Christianity also holds that suffering is punishment from God?
Certainly, in the minds of many, it is. "What did I do to deserve this?" is often the first question on the lips of a sufferer. And the conviction of friends, expressed or unexpressed, frequently operates on this same assumption. The classic treatment of the problem of suffering and evil in the book of Job shows how this cruel assumption was accepted by Job's friends. It compounded his already staggering pain.
It is clear from the teaching of both the Old and the New Testaments that suffering may be the judgment of God, but that there are many instances when it is totally unrelated to personal wrong-doing. An automatic assumption of guilt and consequent punishment is totally unwarranted.
To be sure, God is not a sentimental grandfather of the sky with a boys-will-be-boys attitude. "A man reaps what he sows" (Galatians 6:7) is a solemn warning to any who would tweak God's nose in arrogant presumption. God afflicted Miriam with leprosy for challenging the authority of Moses, her brother whom God had appointed leader. He took the life of David's child, born of his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba.
Other examples could be cited. In the New Testament we have the startling example of Ananias and Sapphira, who were struck dead for lying, cheating and hypocrisy. That there may be a connection between suffering and sin is evident, but that it is not always so is abundantly clear. We have the unambiguous word of our Lord Himself on the subject. The disciples apparently adhered to the direct retribution theory of suffering. One day when they saw a man who had been blind from birth they wanted to know who had sinned to cause this blindness - the man or his parents. Jesus made it clear that neither was responsible for his condition, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life" (John 9:1-3).
On receiving word of some Galileans whom Pilate had slaughtered, Jesus went out of His way to point out that they were not greater sinners than other Galileans. He said that the eighteen people who had been killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them were not greater sinners than others in Jerusalem. From both incidents he made the point, "Unless you repent, you too will all perish" (Luke 13:1-3).
Clearly, then, we are jumping the gun if we assume automatically, either in our own case or in that of another that the explanation of any given tragedy or suffering is the judgment of God. Further, as Hopkins observes, it seems clear from biblical examples that if one's troubles are the just rewards of misdeeds, the sufferer is never left in any doubt when his trouble is a punishment.
4.5 Judgment Preceded by Warning
Indeed, one of the profound truths of the whole of Scripture is that the judgment of God is preceded by warning. Throughout the Old Testament we have the repeated pleadings of God and warning of judgment. Only after warning is persistently ignored and rejected does judgment come. God's poignant words are an example. "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11).
The same theme continues in the New Testament. What more moving picture of God's love and long-suffering is there than our Lord as he weeps over Jerusalem, "I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing" (Matthew 23:37). And we have the clear word of Peter that the Lord does not want "anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
When someone asks, "How could a good God send people to hell?" we should point out that, in a sense, God sends no one to hell. We send ourselves. God has done all that is necessary for us to be forgiven, redeemed, cleansed and made fit for Heaven. All that remains is for us to receive this gift. If we refuse it, God has no option but to give us our choice. Heaven, for the person who does not want to be there, would be hell.
Though the judgment of God sometimes explains suffering there are several other possibilities to consider. People, as we saw earlier, were responsible for the coming of sin and death into the universe. We must not forget that humankind's wrongdoing is also responsible for a great deal of misery and suffering in the world today. Negligence in the construction of a building has sometimes resulted in its collapse in a storm, with consequent death and injury. How many lives have been snuffed out by the murder of drunken driving? The cheating, lying, stealing and selfishness which are so characteristic of our society today all reap a bitter harvest of suffering. But we can hardly blame God for it! Think of all the misery that has its origin in the wrongdoing of human beings - it is remarkable how much suffering is accounted for in this way.
4.6 The Presence of An Enemy
But we are not alone on this planet. By divine revelation we know of the presence of an enemy. He appears in various forms, we are told, appropriate to the occasion. He may appear as an angel of light or as a roaring lion, depending on the circumstances and his purposes. His name is Satan. It was he whom God allowed to cause Job to suffer. Jesus, in the Parable of the Good Seed and the Tares, explains the ruining of the farmer's harvest by saying, "An enemy did this" (Matthew 13:28). Satan finds great pleasure in ruining God's creation and causing misery and suffering. God allows him limited power, but he cannot touch the one in close fellowship with God. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7), we are assured. Nevertheless, Satan accounts for some of the disease and suffering in the world today.
In answer to the question of why God allows Satan power to bring suffering, we can learn from Robinson Crusoe's answer to his man, Friday.
"Well," says Friday, "you say God is so strong, so great; has he not as much strong, as much might as the devil?"
"Yes, yes," says I; "Friday, God is much stronger than the devil."
"But if God much strong, much might as the devil why God no kill the devil so make him no more do wicked?"
"You may as well ask," answers Crusoe reflectively, "why does God not kill you and me when we do wicked things that offend him?"
4.7 God Feels Our Suffering
In considering pain and suffering, whether it be physical or mental, another important considering must be kept in mind. God is not a distant, aloof, impervious potentate, far removed from his people and their sufferings. He not only is aware of suffering - he feels it. No pain or suffering has ever come to us that has not first passed through the heart and hand of God. However greatly we may suffer, it is well to remember that God is the great sufferer. Comforting are the words of Isaiah the prophet, foretelling the agony of Christ: "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering" (Isaiah 53:3). Another writer reminds us, "Because He himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted" (Hebrews 2:18). And "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).
The problem of evil and suffering is one of the profound problems of the ages. It is becoming increasingly acute in our time, with the advent of the bomb. There are no easy answers, and we do not have the last word. There are, however, clues.
4.8 Risky Gift of Free Will
First, evil is a necessary part of free will. As J. B. Phillips has put it:
"Evil is inherent in the risky gift of free will. God could have made us machines but to do so would have robbed us of our precious freedom of choice, and we would have ceased to be human. Exercise of free choice in the direction of evil in what we call the "fall" of man, is the basic reason for evil and suffering in the world. It is man's responsibility, not God's. He could stop it, but in so doing would destroy us all. It is worth noting that the whole point of real Christianity lies not in interference with the human power to choose, but in producing a willing consent to choose good rather than evil."
Unless the universe is without significance, the actions of every individual affects others. No one is an island. To have it otherwise would be like playing a game of chess and changing the rules after every move. Life would be meaningless.
Second, much of the suffering in the world can be traced directly to the evil choices men and women make. This is quite apparent when a bank robber kills someone. Sometimes it is less apparent and more indirect, as when crooked decisions are made in government or business that may bring deprivation and suffering to many people unknown to those who make the decisions. Even the results of natural disasters are sometimes compounded by people's culpability in refusing to heed warnings of their coming.
Third, some - but not all - suffering is allowed by God as judgment and punishment. This is a possibility which must always be considered. God usually allows such suffering with a view to restoration and character formation, and those suffering as a result of their deeds usually know it.
Fourth, God has an implacable enemy in Satan. He has been defeated at the cross but is free to work his evil deeds until the final judgment. That there is in the world a force of evil stronger than human beings is clear from revelation and from experience.
Fifth, God Himself is the great sufferer and has fully met the problem of evil in the gift of his own Son, at infinite cost to Himself. The consequence of evil for eternity is forever removed as we embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. Our sin is forgiven and we receive new life and power to choose what is right as the Holy Spirit forms the image of Christ in us.
4.9 Greatest Test of Faith
Perhaps the greatest test of faith for the Christian today is to believe that God is good. There is so much which, taken in isolation, suggests the contrary. Helmut Thielecke of Hamburg points out that a fabric viewed through a magnifying glass is clear in the middle and blurred at the edges. But we know the edges are clear because of what we see in the middle. Life, he says, is like a fabric. There are many edges which are blurred, many events and circumstances we do not understand. But they are to be interpreted by the clarity we see in the center - the cross of Christ. We are not left to guess about the goodness of God from isolated bits of data. He has clearly revealed His character and dramatically demonstrated it to us in the cross. "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).
God never asks us to understand; we need only trust Him in the same way we ask that our child only trust our love, though he may not understand or appreciate a visit to the doctor.
Peace comes when we realize that we do not have the full picture. Then we can affirm, with calm relief and joy, that in "all things God works for the good of those who love him" (Romans 8:28)
At times it is our reaction to suffering, rather than the suffering itself, that determines whether the experience is one of blessing or of blight. The same sun melts the butter and hardens the clay.
When by God's grace we can view all of life through the lens of faith in God's love, we can affirm with Habakkuk, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior" (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
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5. REFERENCES AND RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER STUDY
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