by Denny Hook

I remember recess in grade school. We used to play games like four square, tether ball, dodge ball, hop-scotch, marbles, touch football, jump rope and red rover. In winter we would have snowball fights or build forts. Usually the boys and girls would play separately, but not always. Most often, when it came to games with teams, boys would be the captains in charge of choosing sides. Girls were chosen last, unless they were quite athletic. Now if a boy picked a girl first, he would get teased that they were “in love”. I guess teasing is a natural playground thing that comes as kids establish the “pecking order”. However, sometimes it would get out of hand with somebody not letting up, and first thing you know there would be a fight. It usually ended with the teacher breaking it up; otherwise it continued until the teaser was pinned to the ground in an inescapable wrestling hold. The dialog would go something like this: Bob, “Let me go!” Tom, “Not until you take back what you said.” Bob (trying to get free), “Okay.” Tom (tightening the hold), “Say it, cry Uncle!” Bob, “Okay, Uncle, Uncle!” Now I don’t know where “Crying Uncle” came from, but it meant, “I surrender and won’t say or do that again.” Sometimes the one who cried Uncle would get up and run away while shouting, “I didn’t really mean it. I only said Uncle, so you’d let me go!” That tactic usually only worked once. If he continued to shoot off his mouth with teasing, you could be sure he would face further consequences off school property. He would learn the lesson in a painful way that “Crying Uncle” would do him no good, if he wasn’t serious about changing his ways and truly sorry.

I can remember several events in history that sent this nation into fear and panic. I was about ten when President Kennedy dealt with the Cuban Missile Crisis. The threat of nuclear war was very real. People were buying bomb shelters and stockpiling food and supplies. Fortunately, it was resolved without war. There have been natural disasters like earthquakes in California, eruption of Mt. St. Helen in Oregon, hurricanes that devastated states on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, tornadoes by the hundreds have shredded the Midwest. There have been floods, droughts, and major fires. We’ve all grieved over the senseless shootings and bombings in our schools, campuses, malls and events. Over 3,000 lives were lost when terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 911. We all wondered what their next target would be, as people were fearful to move about normally. Now here we are in 2020 dealing with a pandemic unrivaled in modern times. There isn’t anyone who hasn’t been affected in some way. The latest report as of this writing is 100,000 lives lost in the United States due to the Covid-19 virus. It seems like fear has a choke hold on the nation. People have suffered financially and mentally due to the shutting down of businesses, schools, churches and just about anywhere people gather or go about their daily routines. As in the past, I wonder if  when all this is behind us, that life will become business as usual for most people as they accept a new normal.

It’s times like these that cause people to question if there is a loving God, and why He allows them to happen. Recently, a so-called liberal celebrity said, “God is thinning out the population, because there are too many people and we are destroying the earth.” Well, it seems to me that the pro-abortion crowd along with Planned Parenthood have been doing a good job of that without God’s help or approval for nearly 50 years. That alone would justify God wiping us off the map for the intentional murders of some 62 million babies in the U.S., if that was His intention. It is the height of ignorance and arrogance to presume that God puts greater value in the earth compared to human life made in His image. We as a nation should be thanking Him for His mercy and grace, and for withholding His judgment against these and other atrocities. People make wrong assumptions about God and why He allows or sends suffering, sickness, Covid-19, or whatever situation they think He could prevent or stop.  I don’t pretend to know the mind of God and why He chooses to do some things and not others. However, I do believe the Bible gives us solid clarity of His perspective and purpose.

In John chapter 3, Jesus has a conversation in verses 1-21 with Nicodemus, a religious leader. It is quite clear that God’s will is to give eternal life to anyone who believes and turns from sin.  In Luke chapter 13, some guys came to Jesus seeking some answers. They tell about how Pilot had killed some Galileans and mixed their blood with pagan sacrifices. Also, how there were 18 men who were building a tower and it fell and killed them all. Tragedies indeed, but these guys presumed that these events happened to these particular people because they were bad sinners, and worse than others. Jesus corrects them by saying, “No, but unless you guys repent, you will all likewise perish”. He isn’t implying they would die in the same manner. Jesus doesn’t point a wagging finger in condemnation, but simply states a fact that without repentance they would die in their sins and face an eternity in Hell.  Ouch! That wasn’t a popular thing to say back then anymore than it is today. Many churches today only present a message of love and acceptance without repentance. They tolerate every imaginable sin in their midst from the pew to the pulpit, so as not to offend anyone. It’s a one-sided lukewarm watered-down ineffective gospel. Yes, it was out of love that God sent His son Jesus, but the message He brought was one of repentance, forgiveness, hope and fellowship with God to those who would repent. It’s only then that anyone can realize and experience the fullness of God’s love. Romans 2:4 says it’s the goodness of God that leads you to repentance. His goodness isn’t giving us everything we desire and ask for, on the contrary, it’s not giving us what we deserve. 2 Peter 3:9 talks about God’s long-suffering toward us that any should perish, but all come to repentance.

Could it be that God allows events to happen in our lives to get our attention, because He does love us? Yet, many shake their fists at Him in anger and blame when hardships come. Perhaps He is just waiting for people to “Cry Uncle” so to speak and give up by surrendering their lives to Him. Some may “Cry Uncle” insincerely for a moment, but they remain unchanged and return to the same old way of living. We want revival, which is a good thing, but it begins with individuals repenting and turning to God with a sincere heart. Many have quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14, but I would like to include verse 13 as I end this writing.

“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”