by Pastor Larry Frazier
Many people have questions concerning sin in the world. Concerning the oppression of African-Americans in this country, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked, “How long?” A songwriter wrote: “Tempted and tried we’re oft made to wonder why it should be thus all the day long.” Prophets have asked, “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” And again, “How long will my enemy triumph over me?”
In the beginning, God created a perfect world. He gave mankind everything that was needed for life. But when the created things (Satan and human beings) challenged God’s authority, the Holy Bible says sin and death came into the world (see Romans 5:12). Sin has been our inheritance ever since. Everything that is wrong in the world is the result of sin.
In the Bible, the question is asked, “Why my soul are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” King David, the giant slayer answered that question with, [because] “my sin is ever before me.” It is good news, however, that neither David’s nor our situation is hopeless.
God who created the world is never out of control of the world. As an expert craftsman who knows how to skillfully use every tool in his trade, God uses everything in creation to work according to His will. That also includes situations that we don’t understand, like why sin is in the world.
Remember what David said, “My sin is ever before me.” Those words speak for us as well. Every day of our lives Satan is trying to tempt us to sin – to lie, cheat, steal, hate, and hurt people.
God on the other hand will use the Holy Spirit to pull us away from those temptations. So while Satan is using temptation to bring you down, God is using that same situation as a test to strengthen you and lift you up.
Pressure to join a gang is a temptation and a test at the same time. God through the Holy Spirit wants you to pass the test. The desire to have an extra-marital affair is a temptation and a test at the same time. God through the Holy Spirit wants you to pass the test.
To those that ask God “Why and how long?”, the Father says to be patient and remember that, “He has delivered us [those who believe and receive Him] from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
So how long must we deal with sin in this world? A wise man once said, “How long? Not long!”
