OUR FAITH IS IN JESUS CHRIST, OUR SAVIOUR
Sakkie Parsons
Someone wrote to me as follows, and I would like to share a few parts with you:
I want to ask you—sitting here, I feel so tired, discouraged, and angry. Over the past Easter weekend there were 13 farm attacks. I just don’t understand why these things keep happening despite thousands of people praying for the protection of the farmers. This is really a stumbling block to my faith.
Thank you very much for your letter. I will respond as best I can.
The emotions you’re experiencing—tiredness, discouragement, and anger—are, from a human perspective, completely understandable.
Also, exactly because we are human, we sometimes experience certain things—those that are personally at the top of our list of importance—more intensely than other things, which may be just as bad or even worse.
For example, I look at South Africa and the murder rate of 51 people per day (at the time of writing this response), and the more than 300 Christians who were killed in their church buildings in Sri Lanka in the middle of Easter celebrations in 2019, which you also mentioned.
I think of my wife, who because of dementia, was lying for years – only breathing—until she went to be with our Lord on April 27, 2019. I think of the thousands of people like me who will never see the sun rise (because I am physically blind), and also of the murders on farms—including those during the Easter weekend of 2019 that you referred to.
And I don’t believe I have even mentioned a millionth of all the suffering on this earth.
How wonderful and comforting it is to know, in the midst of all our pain and sorrow, that all God’s children—who die in whatever manner—are immediately with Christ:
Acts 7:59–60
59 They continued stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive and accept and welcome my spirit!”
60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out loudly, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them;” when he had said this, he fell asleep [in death].
Paul wrote shortly before they came to behead him:
Philippians 1:21–23
21 For to me, to live is Christ [He is my source of joy, my reason to live] and to die is gain [for I will be with Him in eternity].
22 If, however, it is to be life here and I am to go on living, this will mean useful and productive service for me; so I do not know which to choose [if I am given that choice].
23 But I am hard-pressed between the two. I have the desire to leave this world and be with Christ, for that is far, far better;
Why are things the way they are on this earth?
The simplest answer for me is, of course: because there is a satan, and because the greatest percentage of humanity has willingly served him from the time of Adam until now. That is why we are where we are.
Why doesn’t our Lord intervene?
The simple answer:
We don’t know—because we are not God. We are not all-knowing, as He is—the only wise God:
Isaiah 55:8–9
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts higher than your thoughts.
As humans, we simply cannot understand with our limited minds why something doesn’t happen immediately—or at all—as we would like it to. In this life, we must trust our God blindly.
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when the time of perfection comes we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God].
To restore our broken relationship with God, God—who loves us so much—gave His only Son as a sacrifice for us. He, who was innocent and without sin, had to die in our place so that we could receive eternal and new life:
Isaiah 53:7–9
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth [to complain or defend Himself];
Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before her shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 After oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation [His contemporaries], who [among them] concerned himself with the fact
That He was cut off from the land of the living [by His death]
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke [of death] was due?
9 His grave was assigned with the wicked,
But He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
This great pain and suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ made it possible for us to have eternal life with our Father. It snatched us from hell and conquered death for everyone who accepts Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
He did this precisely to redeem us from this broken world. And therefore, we live today with deep gratitude toward Him! We, as people who deserved death, have now been bought at a great price—by the blood of Jesus.
But Jesus also warned us to stay alert and pray—to resist the enemy, who wants to steal our faith and our salvation:
Mark 14:38 Keep [actively] watching and praying so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
While we are still living in this broken world, the enemy is constantly looking for ways to keep us from our salvation—from loving, serving, and living for our Lord Jesus.
Satan wants you and me to be angry without peace, to hate and despise—again without peace—because then he has us exactly where he wants us: disobedient to our Lord.
We must resist him:
James 4:7–8
7 So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.
8 Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you…
Our eyes must remain fixed on Jesus throughout our lives—He is the One who keeps us standing in times of trial and sorrow:
1 Corinthians 1:7–9
7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift [which comes from the Holy Spirit], as you eagerly wait [with confident trust] for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ [when He returns].
8 He will also confirm you to the end [keeping you strong and free of any accusation], so that you will be blameless and beyond reproach in the day of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful [He is reliable, trustworthy and ever true to His promise—He can be depended on], and through Him you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
That is why our faith is not rooted in our current circumstances—which we do not understand.
Our faith is in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has written to us that eventually all this mess in the world will come to an end, and we will be with Him forever in glory:
Revelation 21:3–7
3 And then I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,
“See! The tabernacle of God is among men, and He will live among them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them [as their God],
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be death, there will no longer be sorrow and anguish, or crying, or pain; for the former order of things has passed away.”
5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Also He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true [they are accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy].”
6 And He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
To the one who thirsts I will give [water] from the fountain of the water of life without cost.
7 He who overcomes [the world by adhering faithfully to Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior] will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
The Word of our Lord is full of wonderful examples of people who overcame—despite overwhelming circumstances.
I’ll mention just one:
Habakkuk 3:17–19 (AMP)
17 Though the fig tree does not blossom
And there is no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive fails
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock is cut off from the fold
And there are no cattle in the stalls,
18 Yet I will choose to rejoice in the Lord;
I will choose to shout in exultation in the [victorious] God of my salvation!
19 The Lord God is my strength [my source of courage, my invincible army];
He has made my feet [steady and sure] like hinds’ feet
And makes me walk [forward with spiritual confidence] on my high places [of challenge and responsibility]…
We cannot understand suffering on this earth. We cannot explain everything that happens to us and around us—but we know our Lord will make all things new.
What a joyful future to look forward to!
Nothing that happens to us can separate us from the love of Jesus.
Romans 8:38–39
38 For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Just as things looked terribly wrong when Jesus hung on the cross, circumstances now may also seem terribly wrong to us—but through that suffering, He accomplished the greatest victory for humanity.
Through Him, we too are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.
John 14:2–3
2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.
Greetings,
Sakkie