Good recipe for inner peace - the 'peace that passeth understanding'. One caveat - "God is in control of everything that happens in the world." That statement might confuse some people, because, as you said in the beginning, all kinds of bad things are happening. God is in control in the sense that He decides when to bring evil to justice, and when to intervene in the affairs of men. But He often allows the evil to run its course - perhaps as a test to see if believers will remain faithfully trusting in Him. Gen.15:16 has the phrase "the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete", implying that God let them go on with their wickedness to its ultimate conclusion - an example of what not to do - they needed to repent.
Yesterday I was reading 1 Kings 18:3-4. Obadiah's faith was intact and active, even in the midst of a nation that had gone completely bad under king Ahab. "Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him". 1 Kings 16:30
Agreed. He may allow evil as a consequence of our actions or to serve another good, but He is never the cause of the evil. Still no evil can happen without His OK. He does however cause the desire for evil to work His purposes.
God allowed Satan to persecute Job for His purpose, but with limits. When Joseph’s brothers wanted to kill Joseph, God had some slave traders walk by and allowed their greed to lead them to sell Joseph to the right slave traders, so that Joseph would be at the right place, at the right time, when God’s purpose would be fulfilled.
Good recipe for inner peace - the 'peace that passeth understanding'. One caveat - "God is in control of everything that happens in the world." That statement might confuse some people, because, as you said in the beginning, all kinds of bad things are happening. God is in control in the sense that He decides when to bring evil to justice, and when to intervene in the affairs of men. But He often allows the evil to run its course - perhaps as a test to see if believers will remain faithfully trusting in Him. Gen.15:16 has the phrase "the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete", implying that God let them go on with their wickedness to its ultimate conclusion - an example of what not to do - they needed to repent.
Yesterday I was reading 1 Kings 18:3-4. Obadiah's faith was intact and active, even in the midst of a nation that had gone completely bad under king Ahab. "Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him". 1 Kings 16:30
Agreed. He may allow evil as a consequence of our actions or to serve another good, but He is never the cause of the evil. Still no evil can happen without His OK. He does however cause the desire for evil to work His purposes.
God allowed Satan to persecute Job for His purpose, but with limits. When Joseph’s brothers wanted to kill Joseph, God had some slave traders walk by and allowed their greed to lead them to sell Joseph to the right slave traders, so that Joseph would be at the right place, at the right time, when God’s purpose would be fulfilled.