Why Is God Silent When I Cry Out for Help?

Why is God's silent when I cry for help? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. And this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question. Here's the number eight three three the core. That's one eight three three eight four three 26, 73. You can also e-mail us with your question at questions at core Christianity dot com. First up today, a high school volleyball player comes to the rescue of an elderly woman. Last month, Betty Williams was staying at her daughter's house in Palmer Lake, Colorado. Betty is 74 years old and she fell down the garage stairs when she was home alone and broke her hip while Betty was able to use a broom to slightly open the garage door and began crying for help. Luckily, 16 year old Hannah Dreyer was outside practicing volleyball. She noticed Mrs. Williams dog Rusty, running around when Hannah went to return the dog. She heard Betty's calls for help. Anna called nine one one and waited with Betty until the ambulance and the EMT arrived. So thank the Lord for Hannah and for that little dog. Rusty, too, huh?

And thank God for that young woman. And I hope that Betty recovers.

So neat to hear about young people who are serving in some way. And obviously, she's a gal who who responded when there was a need. So later, let's go to our first question of the day. And this one came from Christina, who posted on our Facebook page. She asks, How come God hasn't destroyed Satan already?

A Christina. Good question.

What I would say that when we start thinking about this, the first thing we have to understand is that Satan has been definitively defeated by Jesus at the cross. And this is something that that we see all over the place in the New Testament fact. It's one of the things that Jesus himself, during his earthly ministry said he was going to do. He was in a bind, the strong man, so that he might plunder his kingdom.

Jesus through his earthly ministry.

You know, casting out demons, performing miracles. Going to the cross to pay for our sins. Bound Satan, if you will, so that the gospel could continue to it to advance to the nations in a powerful way. John, Chapter 12 versus 31 and 32. Jesus said now is the judgment of this world. Now, will the ruler of this world be cast out?

And I when I am lifted up from the earth he's referring there to the crucifixion will draw all people to myself where the words are something that Jesus has done at the cross that is definitively defeated Satan.

So that the Gospel can continue to advance and would go out to the nations and people would turn to Christ and the Gospel and have their lives changed. Paul, writing to the Colossians in Colossians Chapter two, says something very similar. He says this Colossians Schepper two beginning in verse 13. He says, you who were dead in your trespasses and the UN circumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him having forgiven us all our trust passes by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside nailing it to the cross.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. That is in Christ. So Satan has been defeated at the cross, disarmed were free by the blood of Jesus. And yet, even though he's been defeated, he has not yet been finally destroyed. Now, that happens at the end of the age when when as John describes in Revelation, Chapter 20, verse 10, Satan and all his minions are cast into the lake of fire. Now, why is there this period between the defeat of Satan where he was defeated at the cross and his final destruction?

Well, I don't think that the scriptures give us a real clear answer there, Christina, but we do know that while the devil hasn't been fully destroyed, he has power now only because God lets him have it. In other words, his kingdom is being plundered. It's falling apart through the gospels advancement. He's not in control. Jesus is in control. I think that one of the things we have to watch out for is that we don't have this view of spiritual warfare. That's, you know, good versus evil. And, you know, sometimes good, a little. Sometimes evil wins a little. And this is sort of cosmic battle that's happening. And God isn't the one who's ultimately in control and on top.

I mean, the devils is a created being. God is sovereign.

He's he's the uncreated one. And he allows Satan to continue to exist. But there is coming a day where he will be finally and fully destroyed, cast into the lake of fire. And so we trust in the Lord and we trust that God knows what he's doing, that he has our best interests in mind, that he causes all things, as Paul said, to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. And we rest in that.

And interestingly, you can rest in that. Thank you for your question.

Thanks so much, Christina. By the way, if you have a question for us, you can call us at eight three three the core. That's one eight three. Three eight. Four. Three. Twenty six. Seventy three. And a drill. We had a call from Holly.

I've been with the lawyer for over 30 years and tilted today, I guess. So what happens to a person? They commit. I don't try. I mean, you know, I still repent. But, you know, to this day, I still hurt so much. But the things I've done at this thing is that I was already, you know, born again Christian. And I keep asking myself why. Why did I do think I need her? Because I have children. And how do Nyren introduces us to struggle? That they belong to Jesus is still disaffected.

I hurt so bad because of what I've done. After you've made me his child. Thank you. And God bless. Bye bye.

Holly, let me begin by by just praying for you, sister, father, we come before you now and lift Holly up to you. And we pray, Lord, that you would give her that sense, that overwhelming sense.

Of your love for her in your son, Jesus Christ? Lord, that you you cleanse us of all of our sins and that Jesus bore the penalty for each and every one of our sins, that there is a ascendants so bad that the blood of Jesus Christ cannot forgive us, of that shame, that sin, that guilt. That we experienced, Lord, would you please comfort our sister, Hallie, would you be with her? God give her that that joy in her salvation. And that rests in knowing that through Jesus, all of her sins are forgiven. I pray this father in Jesus name. Amen.

You know, Hollywood. When a true believer has unconfuse sin or sin, that is hidden away. And they know that they're hiding it. I think God in his grace will judge us so that we experience his chastisement in. David, describe this in some 32 versus three and four. He says, When I was silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long for day and night.

Your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by the summer heat. Now, of course, we know that David committed adultery and he didn't own up to his sin right away.

You know, the repentance really had to be dragged out of him. Yet when he confessed his sin to the Lord, God forgave him.

Now, even though we're forgiven, you are forgiven. Justified in Jesus Christ. A lot of times there are still consequences to our sins that we don't get to choose. I've seen cases of adultery where the marriage ended in divorce. I've also seen Christian marriages stick it out because they have a deep understanding of God's mercy and forgiveness. But the fact is, when someone commits adultery, there's there's a breach that's happened in the relationship with their spouse and ultimately with the Lord.

And sometimes there are consequences that we don't foresee and there's that sense that we can have.

And I think, Holly, all of us, as followers of Jesus, when we look back, we think, man, why did I do this or that or the other? But, Holly, you have confessed your sin to the Lord. You've turned to him and Jesus carried your sin to the cross and covered it with his blood. He bore the punishment for it.

I found that the why question. You know, I'm having a hard time understanding why I did this. I found that that question is really unhelpful when thinking about our sins, because we're assuming that there had to be some good reason for it. Some rationale. But the truth is, Holly, sin comes from our heart. There's no justification. We'll never have a good answer to the why question. But God does not forgive us because we've got a good explanation for why we did such a thing.

He forgives us because he's full of mercy, because of his great love and long suffering. You don't have to have an answer.

You can come to God. We can come to God. Broken as we are and know that we rest. Not on not on the justification that we have for why we do the things that we've done, whatever they might be. But we rest in the fact that God and the blood of Jesus is greater than our sins.

Sometimes, even after having been forgiven, you know, we still we still grieve over our past sins. When you feel that, Holly, I'd encourage you to pray like David did in his Psalm of repentance, actually written after he you know.

And here's a guy who had the scripture says was a man after God's own heart. I mean, used mightily by the Lord, mightily by the Lord.

And yet he committed adultery and murder. And yet he prays to God after he comes to his senses in Psalm 51 and he says, Lord, purge me with his sleep and I shall be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins. Blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean hado God and renew it right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence.

Take not your Holy Spirit from me. David said. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness. Oh God. Oh God of my salvation. And my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. Oh, Lord.

Opened my lips and my mouth will declare your prey's. I can declare to you as a minister of the gospel, as a pastor, on the basis of God's word, you've confessed your sins to the Lord sister, you are forgiven in the blood of Jesus washes away all of your sins. And I pray that the Lord would open your lips so that you would declare his praise and that he might give you peace in knowing that you're forgiven. Removing that that sense that you still have pain, you know. Right. There's no reason, no good reason for why we do the things that we do. But that's not why you're forgiven, because you have a reason. It's because God is great and God is merciful. In May, the Lord bless you.

Enteral, I'm so glad you shared that passage from the Psalms. And David's words are so healing. And I'm hoping that Holly will find that that healing in her own life. Thank you, Holly, so much for taking the time to call us. By the way, you can call us any time with your question at eight three three the core. That's one eight three three eight. Four three. Twenty six. Seventy three. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. Ed, or we have a really cool offer for our listeners today.

Yes, we are sharing a really helpful resource. Yes. As you know, Bill, we get a lot of questions from listeners who call themselves Christians, but lack the assurance that they're saved.

And that's what we created, an audio resource called. Glad You Asked. Answers to core questions on assurance. You can find it over at our at our Web site, Corke Christianity dot com. And it's free when you sign up for our weekly newsletter so that over the core Christianity dot com forward slash offers to download. Glad you asked. Answers to core questions on insurance. I know that this is going to be a blessing to you, especially if you've you've had this question for yourself. How can I know I'm saved?

And even if you don't struggle with that, chances are, you know, somebody who does. And this will be really helpful in answering their questions about assurance. You can call us anytime for that resource and others at eight three. Three eight. Four. Three. Twenty six. Seventy three. Just a reminder that core Christianity is listener supported. Well, let's get back to another question. This is an e-mail that came in from Michael. He says, In view of the truth of the doctrine of election and the reality that we contribute nothing to our salvation except sin, I have a question without clouding the gospel with human effort. What does a gospel presentation look like?

Hmm. Hey, Michael, thanks for that question. I don't want to just assume the doctrine of election.

What is that doctrine? It's the idea that God or the teaching that God unconditioned unconditionally chooses some for everlasting life while passing over others. Now, not everyone in the Christian church embraces that. And I have to admit to you, when I was first presented with this doctrine, I had a hard time with it.

I wrestled because I had family members who I loved, who didn't profess faith in Jesus. And I thought, if God simply chooses people, well, what hope can they have? What if they weren't chosen?

But, Michael, the more I studied the scripture and it sounds like you've come to this same conclusion, the more I studied the scripture, the more I came to see that God does.

Before we were born or had done anything good or bad, God does choose his people for salvation.

I know here on this program we're going to tackle a lot of controversial issues. But at the end of the day, brothers and sisters, we want to search the scriptures. We want to submit to God's word because that's our ultimate authority. And Paul said, inefficient. Chapter one, beginning in verse three, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

And get this, even as he shows us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us for adoption as sons. Through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. To the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved.

And so I just wanted to to preface my comments, Michael, with with going to that text, because I know there are gonna be some differences with you who are listening. I don't know where everyone's at, but we want to go to the scriptures.

And Paul says right there, very clearly in love, he predestined us for adoption as sons. Here's the thing, and this is important, one of the reasons Jesus died was to secure the universal offer of the gospel to all people. That messages is good news and should be proclaimed to everyone without distinction. So when we preach the gospel, we preach it is good news for everyone.

The Bible makes it very clear that you need to believe and you need to repent. Faith and repentance are are gifts that God gives to us. Paul, is that to say that a little bit later in Ephesians Chapter two, but we're still the subjects of faith and repentance. In other words, I have to believe I have to turn from my sins. You know, sometimes people think if you embrace this idea that God predestined state that he chooses that he's sovereign.

Oh, well, then, you know, you're never going to evangelize. What's what's the point? Let me ask you something. Why do you pray for your loved ones?

Because we all believe at the end of the day that God can open their hearts, that it's only going to going to be the work of the Lord, that the work of his spirit, having a high view of God's power and sovereignty doesn't stop us from praying for our loved ones and evangelizing. It's the very foundation of why we do.

And so we preach the gospel.

The free forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ is good news for all people, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever should believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And that's how we preach it, that we don't discriminate when we preach the gospel. It's this free offer of the gospel that goes out to all people. And yet we trust that God, in his power in by the work of his spirit, is the one who opens our eyes, our hearts to receive that good news. And that's what gives us confidence.

Preach it confidently, knowing that the Lord hears our prayers and that the Lord is able to open even the hardest heart. Thanks for your question.

Michael, thank you for taking the time to communicate with us. We'd love to hear your question. As you can always e-mail us at questions at Korps Christianity Acom or call us at one eight three. Three eight. Four three. Twenty six. Seventy three. Here's a call that came in from Eric in Houston, Texas.

I'm calling about the idea that Jesus comforts us when we are in trouble, when we're going through spiritual difficulties. I've been a Christian over 20 years now, and I certainly believe that Christ is my only hope to be united to the father. But one thing that I have a difficulty understanding and accepting is when people say run to Jesus to give you comfort. What does that even mean to run to Jesus? I mean, obviously, he's not here in person, so he can't run up to him. And and then sometimes when you ask for said comfort, it doesn't come. What are we supposed to do with that, especially when you are in a situation where you feel like you've been kind of abandoned and no such comfort seems to be available. Thank you so much for anything you can do to help with that. Thanks.

Thank you for your question.

I remember years ago really wrestling with something, and actually it was it was this feeling of abandonment like you're talking about coming about. So I was raised by my mom, didn't have a ton of interaction with my dad. I mean, we would see each other every every few years, basically. And I remember one occasion he had been a few years since I'd seen him and getting to see him and spend some time with him. And this was after I'd become a Christian. And so I'm in the Lord now and I'm learning how to pray. I'm going to church. And there was just this this odd tension.

And he said some things to me that they really were difficult for me. And I remember feeling like I had been abandoned.

You know, like by God's grace, our relationship is much better now. But at that point, I remember really struggling and praying all night. I mean, I couldn't even sleep crying out to the Lord and asking God, Eric, for comfort. You know, I clung to those versus in scripture that talked about how God is a father to the father. Listen, in some ways that that's how I felt. And I was crying out to the Lord all night, didn't feel anything. The next day, I just kind of continued pressing along and in about a week later, I went to church and it was a Wednesday night Bible study, I remember. And after the midweek Bible study, an older woman in the Lord came up to me and asked me how I was doing. And I said, you know, I'm doing okay. I didn't get into it. And she said to me.

Adrian, I don't know what was going on last week, but I felt like the Lord woke me up in the middle of the night Tuesday night, the same night that I was wrestling with all these things, crying out to the Lord, to the lowered, woke me up in the middle of night and I just felt like I should pray for you. And I don't know what was going on, but I was praying for you. And she said that. And, boy, the tears just began streaming down my face because I thought there I was crying out to the Lord, wondering, God, do you hear me?

It was this small. I mean, this sign for me is a new Christian at the time that the Lord did hear my prayers. And he had this woman, his sister, you know, in God's providence, you know, who just felt compelled to pray for me. And it was a sign that God hears me and it was a comfort that I received. You know, I've I've never had an experience like that again.

But I think that sometimes you ask, how does God comfort us? Sometimes God does do things like that.

And I can tell you, brother, just on the basis of God's word. That God will never leave you or forsake you.

He does not abandon you. You think of what Jesus said in his upper room discourse and in John Chapter 14. And Paul said in Second Corinthians, chapter one, verse four, Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God, for as we share abundantly, in Christ sufferings. So through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort to.

Sometimes he comforts us when we when we cry out to him with this sense of peace. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, this discomfort, the peace that passes, all understanding doesn't always come. But sometimes I think I think that's one of the ways that he comforts a sometimes he comforts us through other brothers and sisters in the Lord who speak the truth to us. And it just is just a fitting word. And in a moment of distress or struggle. Sometimes he does that. Sometimes it's just through meditating upon scripture. And I think that's what we mean. What I mean when I said we ought to run to Jesus. I think actually that this language is biblical.

It refers to looking to Christ with the eyes of faith and clinging to him to his sufferings.

God comforts us through Jesus in the work of Jesus on our behalf. And I can say to you, whatever you're going through, that the Lord Jesus can sympathize with you. He assumed humanity, our flesh. He experienced the pain that we experience, the abandonment that we often experience. He knows it.

He loves you and he comforts you. And that he gave himself for you to bless you, to forgive your sins and to give you fellowship with him. God bless you, Eric.

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