Question:
Answer:
Isaiah 45 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; 7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.’
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
John 10:10 The thief (the devil) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
I think the thing that is bothering you, is the “create calamity” part. I always think of God as having a huge umbrella which stretches around Him and is for our protection, if we are under it. But so often we wander off, far from the protective umbrella, and then calamity hits us. The fact that God created us with the power of free choice, prevents Him from pulling us back from disaster, if it comes as a result of our bad choices. He therefore allows the calamity to come, not because He can’t stop it, but because He does not interfere with our power of choice.
If you go and look at the Blessings and Cursings in Leviticus 26, that God gave the Israelites, it might look as if God is a punishing God when you consider the Cursings. But it is the natural outcomes of turning away from God, and walking outside of His protective umbrella. God does not cause the Cursings, but does not stop it when His will is rejected.
If our concept of God is correct, if we truly believe that God is love, as the Bible says, and that He is patient, kind, gentle, faithful, forgiving, merciful, good, and every wonderful thing you can think of, then we know that He does not create bad things. After creation, God said that it was very good, and if God says that, it was perfect. It was only the devil and sin that brought the bad stuff. Never for a moment believe that God is responsible for sin, suffering and sorrow, that is the devil’s contribution.
I trust that this makes sense. God bless!
