It just doesn’t make sense! How often have I thought this to myself when something goes wrong? Sometimes things just don’t add up.

God is good. God is in control. Bad things happen.

How can all of these be true?

This postmodern world we live in is very rationalistic. We like everything to be explained and proven scientifically. Our mindset is to use logic and reason to make sense of things. 

So people use different ways to try to reconcile this dilemma. Some people write God off all together. They decide that since there is so much suffering and pain in the world, a good and loving God cannot exist. 

Others just choose to ignore certain parts of the Bible. They are willing to overlook the passages that say God is in control. When bad things happen, they chalk it up to the enemy having more power than God and thwarting His intended good plan.

G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy is an eye-opening book. Chesterton suggests that we live in a world of paradoxes – situations that seem to contradict each other but are actually true. He proposes that we are so worried about seeing everything rationally that we fail to realize there are miracles all around us, and that part of our miraculous world involves contrary situations that actually co-exist. He describes this as “the collision of two passions apparently opposite” and says it is the “thrilling romance of Orthodoxy.”  One of his many examples is that the world is round, but it also is flat. We in Kansas can attest to that! 

And when we look to the teachings of Jesus, we see so many paradoxical truths. We are commanded to hate our father and mother, but love our enemies. We are told whoever humbles himself like a child will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. We are shown that the last will be first, and the first last. And the most amazing paradox of all – God Himself died so that we might live.

We must not question our faith just because things don’t make sense! Our finite minds aren’t made to understand the seemingly contradictory concepts that we face on this earth. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” Someday all the complex puzzles of life will become clear. Right now, we continue on in faith, firmly believing that the God of love is in control of every detail, even the hard ones.