Why Doesn't God Do Something?Sample

Don’t just sit there! Do something!

Sam: Hey, Lyn, sometimes, I still feel like asking God, ‘Why don’t you do something about all the suffering in the world?’

Lyn: Well, why don’t you ask him?

Sam: I’m afraid he might ask ME the same question.

Lyn: Ha! Sounds like you’re beginning to get the idea. It’s easy to speak up and sound virtuous and righteous, but if we don’t also do something about it, these are just empty words.

Sam: Well, I know a few people like that.

Lyn: I guess you do. There are plenty of them around. 

Sam: I know one chap who is always sounding off about how we need to take more refugees into our country. But he doesn’t even invite his friends inside his door for a cup of coffee, let alone welcome strangers to live in his house.

Lyn: Yes, actions do speak louder than words. This is why Jesus said that his followers should live in such a way that they bring honor to our heavenly Father and that people would know that we are his disciples because we love one another.

Sam: I just had a thought. Could it be that another reason God sometimes holds back from intervention is that he is expecting people who believe in him to act? 

Lyn: Wow, Sam. I think you just hit it on the head. Somebody once said that we—Christians, that is—are the hands and feet of Jesus. It’s up to us to do the work of God’s Kingdom. And if we don’t do it—

Sam: --nobody does.

Lyn: You got it! And if you think about it, over the years of history since the time of Jesus, most charitable work around the world was done by followers of Jesus. Hospitals, schools, hostels, feeding the poor, defending the weak and helpless. Although Governments and other religious groups have now taken over much of this, the foundations were Christian. 

Sam: Lyn, you keep saying things that I know but have never really thought about before. 

Lyn: Thanks, Sam. There is such a lot I don’t know and so much that I doubt I will ever understand. But I think it is true to say that when God acts in this world it is usually through his people.

Sam: Yep, Lyn. This time you’ve nailed it.

Matthew 5:13-20, 38-48; John 13:34-35; 1 Peter 2:21.

What next? Which verse or verses really stand out to you from these passages? Why?