Q. When there is no answer to a prayer...
When it seems God is silent…
When it seems God is not listening…
When we pray and we get no desired result…
Is God ignoring us?

A. No. God knows all things, about all things, and is in, above, beneath, and over all things. God has ultimate power over everything and everyone.

Acts 17: 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 `For in him we live and move and have our being.'

Q. If God created every man and nation and all that is our reality then why? Why are hundreds of thousands killed in horrendous natural disasters? Why do young children have to die of disease, starvation, lack of attention, or all forms of abuse? Why does anyone have to suffer in any way?

A. Of all the questions we have about God these are the most difficult. These are difficult because we have expectations about God. We expect God to act in ways that are predictable, certain, and consistent. Most of the time we want God to act according to our timetable, our needs, our wants, and our set of criteria.

Q. Is God really in charge of all things?

A. Yes, God has the power to do all things and to be in charge of all things. But at this time and in our present existence God is not controlling all things. For reasons we do not understand, God has permitted the force of darkness to exist in our existence in this world. We do not know why this permission has been granted or why our reality is structured as it is. It may be that the darkness is a part of our reality because our reality somehow requires the darkness in order for our reality to exist. However, God does have ultimate power over all things. We know God has given us some power over our lives, our world, and our existence, as does the darkness.

We must remember that God does have ultimate power but power is not exclusive only to God. Jesus was able to walk upon the water and stop a raging storm. When we want to know why God permits a natural disaster to occur we are presuming God has not shared any of His power with any other part of our reality. We would like, in some respects, to have a God who has total dominant power and who is totally managing all things. We want a God who prevents the horrible circumstances of our lives and who exchanges the horrible circumstances for blessedness or blessed circumstances.

Christian believers must do battle on the field of life. On that battlefield, where incredibly bad things have happened and will happen, we would like our faith to empower us so we can (in many respects) control God. We say to God, "Get rid of all the bad things. Bring in only good, wonderful, and beautiful things." Our salvation gives us a vision of our future in heaven but we must live on a battlefield here on earth.

Matthew 14: 25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

Q. Why are we even wasting time believing in a God who is unseen, mostly unheard, and who acts in ways we find unexplainable?

A. There are some things about God and His ways we cannot know and cannot do anything about. This is a plain and simple truth. We often do not like this truth. We want to desperately change this truth. If there is an explanation about God’s remoteness, His mystery, and His ways of doing things we must look at ourselves. We are not angels. We are human and we are sinners. We are easily drawn away from God. We are not subservient to God. We want to go our direction not God’s direction. We are not pre-programmed by God to do His will. God gave us our own will, just as God has a will. In many respects, we are a lot like God, since He created us in His image. It is worth our time, our effort, and our lives to believe in a God who is unseen, mostly unheard, and who acts or does not act in ways unexplainable because of the trust God has put in us. God has given us some power and some control over lives and existence. To date, we have not shown God He can trust us to do the right things in every circumstance. If you were God, and humankind had murdered your Son, would you trust humankind? God gave us the power to create. What we have created with our creative abilities is build a civilization that does not praise God, nor does this civilization even give God the credit for our creative talent. With our creative genius we have developed and continue to develop new ways of killing each other off. We are striving to find ways of wiping ourselves off the planet. We too often use our creativity not to glorify God but to glorify sin and violence. If you were God, would you trust us to always do the godly thing in every circumstance?

Luke 16:14 14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.

Q. Aren’t you skirting the issue of why God does not act to prevent horrible things from happening? Aren’t you skirting the issue as to whether God is really in charge of all things?

A. No. When we deal with questions about God, we must always look in the mirror at ourselves. Honestly looking at our individual lives and at our own behavior is something most people do not want to do. Most people do not want to confront their frail and sinful natures. God could do many more things in our lives if we would repent. Overall, we, as a human race are not inclined to repent. We do not really want to repent. We want to remain in our own power structure rather than fitting into God’s power structure.

There is something quite divine about God having given us the ability to repent or not repent. God has preserved this free will decision-making option of going His way or our way. We are, in this regard, free to make our own decisions about God. As long as we are able to make choices about whether we want to go God’s way or our way we will have to deal with the question about God intervening and not intervening in our reality. The question about what God does and does not do in our lives must be put against the possibilities of our capabilities.

Q. Are you saying that if all of humankind repented of their sins, accepted Christ as the one true Son of God, accepted the responsibility for crucifying Him, sought His forgiveness, and dedicated their lives to building a heaven on earth, that there would be no more natural disasters killing thousands? Are you saying that no more children would die of Aids, leukemia, or any other childhood life threatening conditions? Are you saying that if all of humankind built a heaven on earth and lived under God’s laws, that all human suffering would stop…that natural disasters would stop…that darkness in every form would disappear?

A. Yes. That is exactly what I am saying. Sometimes earthquakes happen not because we are bad, but because we are devout and are serving God.

Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.

Q. I do not believe this. I cannot accept this. How can this be?

A. What you cannot believe or accept is the synergy between humankind and God. What you really find hard to believe is that the conditions of our reality and existence (our suffering, adversity, pain, and heartache) are somehow connected to us and to our hearts. What so many people find impossible to believe is that there is a connection between God and man that can result in changes in our reality. We all accept that prayer works when we have a great need. However, this idea of synergy between man and God is such a bitter pill to swallow that most people reject the idea entirely. People do not want to believe or accept that all of creation can be changed as a result of changes in their hearts, minds, and souls because this synergy idea makes us accountable and responsible. To accept the idea that our reality can change based upon the changes we make in our hearts, minds, and souls forces us to confront the idea we are responsible for our reality…responsible for our suffering…responsible for our destroying parts of the earth God created…responsible for war…responsible for man’s inhumanity to man…responsible for the abuse of power in all its forms…responsible for sin and corruption.

Q. I do not accept this idea. I do not accept the idea that 50,000 people died in Venezuela in a mud slide because of me. This idea is preposterous.

A. It may sound preposterous. However, look at what you have just said. You have disconnected yourself from darkness in the world. You are saying there is no connection whatsoever between what the darkness did in Venezuela and you. Let us now multiply that thinking out to the billions of people on earth. Let us say all the billions of people on earth also reject the idea of a connection between natural disasters and themselves. As preposterous at it seems, the darkness has you right where he wants you. The darkness has you, at this moment in time, trying to control your destiny but disconnected from God, and disconnected from any responsibility at all when it comes to natural disasters or any kind of acts by the darkness. As long as we can say to ourselves, "Bad things happen and they have nothing to do with me or anyone else," the darkness can prosper. By taking away your belief in the connection between man and God Satan is keeping you and others in unbelief, Then Satan is in control.

Matthew 13:19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

Q. If what you say is true, that there is a connection between God and man, and the connection is so strong that man could essentially control the destiny of our reality, our earth, our weather, earthquakes, violence, crime, etc., what would have to happen for man to see this truth?

A. It is my personal view that humankind will never reach a point of connection to God whereby Satan is totally removed from the planet. As our human race operates today, our disconnection from God is so great that humankind would have to nearly kill off all living human life by man’s own devices. At that point, with only a fraction of the earth's population left, then the realization might sink in about man's sin and depravity. Humankind would then have to accept the responsibility for the decimation of human life. Do you remember the old TV series, Planet of the Apes? The apes knew the history of the earth and they hid the history of the earth from the human. The apes did not want to speak about the history. The history was that humankind had launched a nuclear war and the war had wiped the human race off the planet. We have the technology to accomplish that feat today and we are still trying to develop even more lethal weapons.

For any change to occur in the human heart, mind, and soul there needs to come a day of true repentance of sins, acceptance of responsibility for Christ’ suffering and crucifixion, and seeking the forgiveness of God, and acceptance of God’s forgiveness and grace. For a transitional change in our reality, for a transition to a heaven on earth where bad things never happen, the beginning step of repentance and all the other steps must follow. Every human being on earth would have to take all these steps. But...

2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Q. If that is what would have to happen, and we all know that all human beings will probably never become Christian, then what is the hope of humanity in general? What is the hope that can drive us into the next millennium as a race of God’s creatures?

A. At this point, there is no collective hope for man as a race of creatures. In fact, as man becomes more sophisticated in his technology and weaponry there is less and less hope in our future. Instead of entering a new age of love, caring, compassion, and enlightenment we are now entering a new age of terror, violence, and possible inhumanity to man on a scale never seen before. As humankind spirals downward, in all the ways of spiraling downward, the synergy between God and human life will also devolve. As the level of inhumanity increases, so will the level of "acts of God" like natural disasters, plagues, and unspeakable pain and suffering. From a biblical perspective, man has no collective hope and has no individual hope except through Christ our Redeemer.

1 Peter 1: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you...

Q. Aren’t we masters of our own fate? Aren’t we the captains of our own souls? Aren’t we the makers of our own destiny? Aren’t we just as capable of spiraling upwards as we are of spiraling downward?

A. Everyone wants a clean, clear "Yes" to each of these questions. Philosophically we desire and delude ourselves by telling ourselves there is a "Yes" answer to each of these questions. Unfortunately, these questions are based on our being our own God. However, when we get specific about each question the answer is a clean, clear "No." No, we are not the masters of our own fate unless we fall on our knees before God and let Him be the master. No, we are not the captains of our own souls because without Christ we are bound to shipwreck. No, we are not the makers of our own destiny because without Christ in our hearts, our destiny is determined by the darkness. No, we are not capable of spiraling upward without Christ alive and living within each of us.

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

Q. One last question. Is the human race doomed?

A. Without Christ, without accepting Christ in a personal way into their hearts, people on earth individually are doomed. Collectively, the human race is also doomed without Christ as the focal point of their collective lives. I am not saying the human race will disappear from the earth in the near term, nor am I saying we will not make technological progress in the future. What I am saying is the human heart, the human soul, and the human mind is inextricably connected to God. Without a great religious revival to enliven and strengthen that connection, the heart will ache, the soul will cry out, and the mind will grow sick.

Romans 6:. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.