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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Easley has
been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you.
Welcome to All In with Pastor Jordan Eastley. Today's message
is about to begin, and reamint you to prepare your
heart and mind to hear an inspiring message from God's word.
We hope and pray for God to speak to you
today as you seek to live your life all in

(00:22):
for Jesus Christ. And now from First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee,
here's Pastor Jordan Easley.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Why would a good God allow so many bad things
to happen? You know that question remains relevant today, not
only regarding global tragedies or world events, but also in
our personal lives. In fact, some of you may be
asking that question today because you yourself are walking through

(00:53):
a season of suffering and you're wondering right now, why
God don't get it? Why me? Why my family? Why now?
In my twenty two plus years of ministry, I can
tell you honestly that that is the one question that
I've had to wrestle with the most. When you go

(01:17):
to an orphanage and you see orphans scattered all throughout
the building and they've been abandoned, and they're just there
waiting for someone to pick them up. They're just longing
for someone to love them. I'm just telling you, it
doesn't make any sense when you get the phone call
and you hear the news that a family has been
in a horrible car accident and the kids are okay,

(01:38):
but neither one of the parents survived. When you're the
one that's burying a child that fought for their life,
and you've walked through this journey and you've seen them
fight hard, and yet you're there burying the child and
hearing the parents ask you the question, pastor, help me understand,
how could God allow this to happen. I just want
to be honest with you. That's tough. And the reason

(02:00):
it's tough is because I don't know. I don't understand
why these things have to happen. I don't understand why
some people live and some people die. I don't understand
why there are starving people in the world, or sick
people in the world, or suffering people on planet Earth.
I don't get any of that anymore than you get
it today. But I can tell you one thing's for sure,

(02:22):
and that is Jesus warned us that those things were
going to happen long before they ever happened. In fact,
this week I read the words of Christ and John
chapter sixteen, verse thirty three, and I want to share
them with you today. Jesus told us you will have
suffering in this world. He never tried to hide that
from us, but he wanted to prepare us. He said,

(02:44):
you will have suffering in this world. And yet I'm
still asking the question why why do we have to suffer?
And you know what, in addressing that question, I honestly
don't think you and I will ever fully understand this
side of heaven. The Bible talks about that in one
Corinthians thirteen twelve. That verse says, for now we see

(03:06):
only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then face
to face, now I know in part, but then I
will know fully as I am fully known. And that
verse is talking about our perspective, and it's talking about
our perception of the world. And he tells us very
clearly that today you're trying to see clearly, and you're

(03:30):
trying to understand the big picture, and you're trying really,
really hard. But the Word of God just said no
matter how hard you try to figure it out, you can't.
You can't because right now it's like you and I
are living in a fog. Today is a foggy day,
and the Bible says today, because of the fog, you

(03:52):
and I can't see anything clearly. But it also tells
us that there's coming a day when your questions will
be answered and you're gonna be able to clearly see why.
But as for now, you got to keep moving forward
by faith. We got to move forward by faith, and
you and I have to learn how to navigate the fog.

(04:15):
A while back, I woke up one morning very early.
I got into my car, and within just a few
seconds of driving in that car, I realized that the
fog was dangerously dence that day, I attempted to drive
down Georgetown Road on my way to the church, and
at one point I had to slow my car down
to a crawl because the fog was so bad. I

(04:38):
was driving through a construction zone at that point, and
I couldn't even see the lines on the road, and
I was really afraid that I was gonna hit one
of the concrete barriers on the left or the right,
And so man I'm crawling down the street, just barely
moving at all. Luckily for me, I approached the red light,
and in front of me at that intersection was one
of those big what you ca It's a big redneck truck.

(05:02):
You know what I'm talking about. You know what I'm
talking about. It's one of those big old trucks that
had like a hundred lights mounted on the front of it.
Have you ever seen one of these trucks, Racier, shake
your head, don't judge me. Okay, you've seen these trucks.
This dude had fog lights and headlights and bright lights
and rope lights, and he had light bars. I'm pretty

(05:22):
sure the guy had some glow sticks on the front
of this day. I mean, he had every single light
imaginable mounted to the front of his vehicle. And I
think it's safe to say he was prepared for the fog.
And I realized in that moment, you know what, I
don't have to have all of that stuff in order
to move forward today. I realized, sitting there behind this truck,
I don't have to have every light mounted on my

(05:44):
car in order to get to my destination today. And
I had this, you know, the only thing I need
in this moment is this. I just have to be
able to see that guy's tail lights. I knew he
can see so much better than I can see. Right now,
I don't have to have that. All I need is him.
I need his tell lights. And as long as I

(06:05):
can see those tail lights, I have what I need
to move in the right direction. Listen, I'm so thankful
that the Lord gives us tail lights to follow when
it comes to our why questions. Now, one day we
will clearly see and we will fully understand. But until then,

(06:25):
there are a few truths in God's word that I
believe allow us to move forward in the fog. If
you have a copy of God's Word today, I'm gonna
ask you to take it, and hopefully you're taking notes today.
I'm going to give you three things regarding this question
of why God allows bad things to happen. Then I
believe we need to understand as believers, but we're also
going to dive into God's words starting in Genesis one

(06:48):
in just a moment. The first thing I want you
to jot down about this question is this, God didn't
create evil and suffering, but he does allow it. He
does allow it skeptics loved ask the question, Hey, why
didn't God just create a world where there was no evil,
a world where suffering didn't exist. And if you're asking

(07:10):
that same question today, allow me to go ahead and
answer the question with clarity. Are you ready? He did.
He did create that world that you're asking about. In fact,
in Genesis, chapter one, verse thirty one, it says this
God saw all that he had made, and it was
very good. Indeed, when he says very good, that's our
word perfect. When God saw his creation, his creation was perfect.

(07:35):
So when God created the world, understand it was the
world you're talking about. You say, well, if God isn't
the creator of evil or tragedy or suffering or death,
then where did all of these horrible things come from
in the first place. Well, let me sort of summarize
how these things came to be. When God created the world,
it was perfect. And when God created mankind, he created

(07:57):
us in his image. He designed us in such a
way where we could experience real love. See, the Bible
tells us that God is love. We are created in
his image, we are created by God, we are created
for God. But in order for any of us to
experience true love, we must first have the ability to love. Now,

(08:18):
let me explain this. The ability to love only comes
from free will, because without free will, we wouldn't have
the ability to decide to love someone or to decide
not to love someone. So if God created us without
free will, you and I would basically just be robots
that were programmed to demonstrate some fabricated form of fake love.

(08:43):
I was thinking about that this week and I thought,
you know, as a dad, that would be a really
sad thing if my kids were programmed to tell me
that they loved me. I mean, think about this, parents.
Imagine if your kids had a draw string in their back,
and every time you pulled the string, they were programmed
to say, I love you Dad, I love you Dad.

(09:04):
I mean, that'd be terrible, right, I mean, if they
were programmed like that, those words I love you Dad
wouldn't mean anything to me as a father at all.
But knowing that my kids have free will, knowing that
my kids have the ability to make a decision on
their own, it makes it pretty special when they choose

(09:24):
to come snuggle up to Dad, wrap their arms around
my neck and say Dad, I love you, And let
me tell you that rarely happens in my life, but
when it does, man is good. Hey. True love always
involves a choice. It always involves a choice, and that's

(09:44):
why God created us the way he did. He wanted
to give us a choice so that we could choose
to love him. But unfortunately, Hey, we as humans have
been making the wrong choice for a really long time.
Going all the way back to the book of Genesis,
you have Adam and Eve. They're in the garden of Eden,
and what did they do. They made a choice, and
they abused their free will by rejecting God and walking

(10:07):
away from God. And that decision resulted in the introduction
of two kinds of evil on planet Earth. In that moment,
moral evil and natural evil were born. Moral evil, that's
the immorality. That's the pain, the suffering, the tragedy that
you and I experienced because of our choice to be rebellious.

(10:29):
When we're selfish and arrogant and uncaring and hateful and abusive,
all of that results from moral evil. And that's what
Paul is talking about in Roman chapter three, verse twenty three,
when he said all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God. When he said that we've sinned.
He's talking about morally, we have failed. We dropped the ball,
We took the wrong path, We made the wrong decision.

(10:51):
We walked away from God and we walked towards sin. See,
we've sinned against God and we've made the wrong choice.
Every single one of us today can raise our hands
and say, you know what, you're right. I have sin
against God. That's moral evil, and that's what the Bible
talks about. It also talks about natural evil. And I

(11:12):
want you to see what natural evil looks like. Natural
evil is the things like wildfires or earthquakes, or tsunamis,
or tornadoes or hurricanes. We all know these things as
acts of God that caused suffering for people. And I
want you to realize these two are an indirect result
of the sin of humanity, the sin in the world.

(11:33):
I once heard an author put it this way. He said,
when we humans told God to shove off, he partially
honored our request. Nature began to revolt, the earth was cursed,
genetic breakdown and disease began. Pain and death became a
part of the human experience. And you know what, he's right.
The Bible clearly says that it's because of sin, that

(11:55):
nature was corrupted in thorns and thistles entered into the world.
Romans eight, verse twenty two says, for we know that
the whole creation has been growning together with labor pains
until now. In other words, he tells us nature longs
for redemption to come. Nature longs for things to be

(12:18):
made right. We experience these things, don't we as an
end this world. Let me make this abundantly clear. As
long as we live, we will see moral evil in
our world. As long as we live, we will see
natural evil in our world. And yet it's important for
us as believers to understand that God didn't create evil.

(12:40):
All evil results from rebellion against God. And in the
same way God didn't create evil, Suffering isn't something that
was created by God either. Listen, suffering is a result
of sin. We see that going all the way back
to Genesis chapter three. If you've read Genesis three, you
understand it's painful to have children. Right. See, all of

(13:03):
these things are true, but the question still remains the same.
And the question is, well, couldn't God, in all of
his glory and power and wisdom, couldn't he have just
foreseen all of this before it happened and just stopped it,
just shut it down. A could he made a different
choice and gone in a different direction. And the answer

(13:24):
to that is, of course he could. Of course God could,
and in fact he did. But that doesn't change his
mind about us. It didn't change his mind about you.
Think about this a little bit differently. I vividly remember
before Otter and I had children what it was like.

(13:45):
We were married for five years before we had children,
and so there was a five year period of time
there before we had kids where we would simply watch
other people that had kids and we would judge them.
Remember that. I remember watching toddlers throw fits in restaurants
while their parents did nothing, and we would look at

(14:06):
each other like, hey, those parents need to get their
act together, right, show them who's boss, right, do something mom?
I mean, we would just judge them. We would watch
the little kids scream at their parents and run away,
and we'd be like, no, sir, not in our house,
doesn't If that's my kid, I'm whooping that kid, straight
up whooping them. Put them in time out for a year.
But there's a season where we would say things like that,

(14:28):
and we would act like that, like like, one day
we are going to be the perfect parents and we're
gonna have perfect children, and our children are never gonna
mess up. And we would say that, but you know,
deep down inside, we always knew that that wouldn't be
the case. We always knew, even way back then, that
there was a possibility that our kids could one day
hurt us. They could disappoint us, they could walk away

(14:53):
from us, they can make decisions that didn't honor us.
We knew that there could be a day where our
own children could grow up and point their feet in
our faces and say, Mom and Dad, I hate you.
Even before we had kids, we had that foresight, and
we realized that all of these terrible things were possibilities
for us as future parents. But you know what, even

(15:16):
with all that clarity, and even with all that foresight,
we still chose to have kids. You know why. It's
because we also understood that there was the great potential
for tremendous joy and real love and meaningful relationships and
great moments as a family. Now, I know that analogy

(15:38):
is far from perfect, but I want you to try,
for just a moment, to think about God and his
perspective as he prepared to create mankind. Now, he undoubtedly
knew that we would rebel against him, but he also
knew that many people would choose to follow him, that
many people would choose to love him and to pursue

(15:59):
a relationship ship with him. He knew that many of
us would spend eternity in heaven with him, And to God,
it was all worth it. We were worth it. You
were worth it to the point where He sent his
one and only son to this earth to experience great
pain and to undergo unimaginable suffering, even to the point

(16:20):
of death on a cross. That's what was required to
pay the price for our redemption, and God was willing
to step into that lane for us. So get this today.
God didn't create evil and suffering, but he does allow it,
and he's allowed it from the beginning of time. The
second thing I believe we need to understand is this,

(16:42):
although suffering isn't good, God can use it to accomplish good.
He can use it to accomplish good. You see, nowhere
in the Bible does it say that God is the
author of evil or suffering, but it does say that
God's intentions are to create good things out of bad things.

(17:02):
Romans chapter eight, Verse twenty eight puts it this way.
He said, we know that all things work together for
the good of those who love God, who are called
according to His purpose. Now we know that verse. What
you may not realize is this is not a promise
that God makes to everyone. God does, however, make this
promise to those of us who love God truly and

(17:24):
those of us who are living for God. He tells us,
you're going to experience suffering in this world, but never
forget that I'm the one who specializes in taking tragedies
and turning them into triumphs. So here's a God, it
tells us in his word today. Are you ready? He
says that good things will emerge from bad things if
we're committed to following him. This is a promise for

(17:48):
those of you who love the Lord. I was recently
talking to my dad about that verse in Romans chapter eight,
and we were just kind of discussing really what this
verse means for us. In the middle of that conversation,
he made a statement that kind of caught me off guard.
He said something, and I was like, really, what did
you just say. It started off with him asking me

(18:08):
the question, He said, do you know. Do you know
the moment in my life where I felt closest to God.
I was like, oh, this is no I have no idea,
but I want to know. And he said, the moment
in my life where I felt closest to God was
when I was in the hospital battling throat cancer. I said,

(18:29):
out of all the moments in your life, that's the
moment you felt closest to God. He said, in that
little moment, that season of my life, I've never felt
closer to God than right then. And he elaborated, he said, son,
you got to realize I wouldn't be the man I
am today, the pastor I am today, the husband I
am today, the father I am today. He said, I
wouldn't be the follower of Jesus I am today if

(18:51):
it wasn't for that valley season in my story. Now,
think about the power of that testimony. Nobody wants to
sign up for a valley season, do they? No one
here wants to sign up for throat cancer. We don't
want to volunteer for pain or suffering. And yet the
truth remains the same that God still uses these seasons

(19:13):
that we avoid, these seasons that we hate in order
to make us better and in order to draw us
closer to Christ. The Bible says, with God, good stuff
still emerges from the bad stuff. The Old Testament gives
us a great example of that in the story of Joseph.

(19:34):
This is a guy who went through a terrible season
of suffering. His brother sold him into slavery. How's that
for a bad day? He was unfairly accused of a crime,
He was falsely imprisoned for something that he didn't do.
I think it's safe to say that this guy went
through a lie. But then finally, after twelve years, he
was in a place and in a different position where

(19:56):
he had great authority now, and that authority put him
in a pos where he could save the lives of
the brothers that sold him into slavery, save the lives
of his family members and many others. And it's fascinating
to see what he said to his brothers in Genesis
chapter fifty, verse twenty. He said, this, you planned evil
against me. God planned it for good to bring about

(20:19):
the present result, the survival of many people. I think
all of us could probably say today, listen, the enemy
meant this for evil, but God meant it for good
and somebody needs to hear this today. You need to
hear that God's promises are still true in your life
right now. Listen. His promises are clear, and he says

(20:45):
that he can and he will take whatever pain you're
experiencing today, and he will draw something good from it.
He will draw something good for you may not see
it today, you may not experience it tomorrow, or the
next day or the next day. But ultimately, the Bible says,
if you love God, if you're living your life for God,
this is a promise that applies to you. None of

(21:08):
us most likely see suffering or pain as positive things.
But when you cling to the promises of God, it
may allow you to look at the pain in your
life from a completely different perspective. Inaction cannot be your
decision while dealing with your pain today. In action leads

(21:29):
to destruction. So don't simply ignore it, but ask God
what He's trying to accomplish through it. Hey, no one
here believes that pain is good. No one here woke
up this morning pursuing a life of difficulty or suffering.
But the truth is God sometimes uses pain and he
uses suffering in our life to what to protect us.

(21:51):
He may be protecting you from something. Maybe it's to
propel us, to move us to a different place, to
cause us to to go to a different destination. But
ultimately it's to perfect us, and it's to make us
more like Christ. And it's to point our eyes to
a day that is to come. You see, God didn't

(22:13):
create evil and suffering, but he does allow him. And
although suffering isn't good, God can use it to accomplish good.
But let me give you one more thought today as
we wrap this up, you're ready. The Bible says a
day is coming when suffering will cease and evil will
be eradicated. Somebody say amen to that. Listen, we're talking

(22:36):
about a day that's coming. In fact, many times skeptics
will say, hey, if God has the power to eradicate evil,
if God has the power to eradicate suffering once and
for all, then why doesn't he just do it? And
the answer to that is, just because he hasn't done
it doesn't mean he won't do it. See in the Bible,
God promises that there is coming a day when sickness

(22:59):
and pain are going to be eliminated from this world.
I'm talking about eliminated. In Revelation twenty one to four,
it says on that day he will wipe away every
tear from their eyes. Death will be no more, grief, crying,
and pain will be no more. He said, the day
is coming. You know what else is going to happen

(23:21):
On that day? People are going to be held accountable
for the evil that they've committed. You may not be
the judge, but he is. And he said, there's coming
to day where it's going to be addressed once and
for all. Two Corinthians five to ten says, for we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so
that each may be repaid for what he has done

(23:42):
in the body, whether good or evil. Paul's talking of
believers here, and he's telling us all, hey, that day
is coming. It's coming, It's going to happen. In Rome's
fourteen twelve he tells us the very same thing. He says,
each of us are going to give an account of
him to God, every one of us. In other words,

(24:03):
there's coming today when justice is going to be served
in a perfect way. You said, well, Jordan, with them,
why didn't it just happen? Why doesn't God just make
it happen. Now, Why is he delaying? Man? If Jesus
is gonna come and make all things right there, then
why doesn't Jesus just come right now? You know what,
I believe. I believe that He is delaying that day

(24:26):
for some of us here today. Honestly believe that. I
believe he is delaying the consummation of history in anticipation
that some of you will still choose to place your
complete trust in him, some of your loved ones will
choose to love him. I believe He's waiting for you

(24:47):
to give your life to him so that one day,
you too, can spend eternity in heaven. Think about that
God himself delaying everything out of his great love for you.

(25:09):
The words of Psalm one nineteen serve as a gentle
reminder that God's word is like a guiding light, illuminating
our path and directing our steps. It's a daily blessing
to immerse ourself in the wisdom and the love and
the truth found in God's word. When we dive into God,
it's like God dives into us, and when we do that,

(25:31):
he allows us to discover His purpose for our lives
and really gain strength that we need in order to
be maximized. Hello, I'm Pastor Jordan Easily, and I believe
that dedicating time to daily Bible reading will enrich your life,
empower you at God's presence, and provide for you lasting
strength as you navigate this part of your journey. You know,

(25:53):
I've never had someone except a Bible reading challenge and
then come back saying I really regret reading God's word,
And so today I want to extend to you that
same challenge. But don't worry, I'm not only challenging you.
I want to equip you. In fact, today I want
to provide for you a free Bible reading plan to
support your spiritual journey. This is a thoughtful, crafted plan

(26:15):
that will guide you through the entire Bible in just
one year. And if you follow this plan, I will
guarantee that you will not only grow in wisdom, but
also in your personal walk with Jesus. To receive your
free Bible Reading guide, please follow the instructions on the
screen and rest assured we will do everything we can
to promptly deliver your guide to you. Supplies are limited,

(26:39):
so please make sure to order your copy today so
that you can benefit from this valuable resource. Hey, we
never want to end our broadcast without giving you the
opportunity to know Jesus as your personal Lord and savior.
If you'd like to make the decision to trust Jesus
and want to know more about what it looks like
to follow Jesus, get in touch with me right now.

(27:01):
Follow the instructions at the bottom of the screen so
that we can pray for you and also put information
in your hands right away. Today we celebrate your decision
and look forward to being a part of your personal
journey of going all in with Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Eeseley has
been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you.
We hope today's message encourages you as you strive to
live your life fully committed to Jesus Christ.