ABOVE MY PAY GRADE

 Above My Pay Grade                          Romans 3                       10.22.12

 There is no one on this good earth who is able,  to our satisfaction,  to
tell us just why things happen as  they do.  Some might hazard "educa-
ted" guesses;  that would be mere conjecture.  I am pleased  to  report, 
this is not an attempt to explain why unpleasant things happen to any-
one.  I will,  however,  suggest Talking points.  A subject will be given, 
and  Scripture  will be  referenced for application.  Dogmatism on this 
subject,  and most others,  is  hardly  appropriate and  will not  stand 
against reason.

      Sometimes it is necessary to state the obvious.   It  is  clear;  bad 
things happen to "good" people and good things happen to the "bad."  
To  me, the terms, "good" and "bad," can be highly  subjective  and 
there are times when we have seen  a  good person has done a "bad"
 thing and there are certainly times when someone we consider bad,  
does something  seeming good.  Most  of   us  think  our  idea  of  the  
difference in  these  two terms is adequate,  but consider this: In the
book of Romans the Lord states through  Paul,  the  Apostle, "There  
is none righteous, not even  one:  There is none that understandeth,  
there is none  that seeketh  after  God."  We  might  conclude,  since 
there is none good, then there are none who can make judgments of 
what is good or what is bad?  Let's use the analogy of a child and his 
leafy,  green vegetables.   To a child,  veggies  are bad;  to the nutri-
tionist  they are  essential for  good health  and well  being.  Further-
more, the parent who tries to get  a child to eat  a proper diet,  does 
not eat  properly  nor does the nutritionist.  All  my life I have made
observations if persons in authority seeking to get those under that 
authority to do things the authority figure,  is not willing to do,  kno-
wing all the time the best way to lead is by example.  

      Next,  let's transport ourselves from this existence to another, 
outside our sphere.  Let's say,  in our new dimension we are able to 
see all of life from  beginning to end and  have knowledge  unavail-
able to  those who remain  here in their ignorance.  Do you see how 
this might change our perspective?  When you  relate to the whole,  
a single incident, everything changes.  We may  see some  things,
seeming  to be  good were bad and  things seeming to  be bad were 
good.  We speak here of effect, not moral or theological principles.  
Since we are unable to  make this kind of  transcendent  move,  we 
are stuck here to fend for ourselves and make the best of that with 
which  we have  to work.  Is there  some other  way of  meeting this 
dilemma?

      We all know, or know of a person who know life from beginning 
to end and sees all things from  an other world  perspective.  He  is 
the one who created  this material  universe you and  I  inhabit and  
alone  is able to make judgments of  what  is bad and what  is good. 
The good news;   He  gave the task  to  some  forty,  picked  servants 
to write out everything we must know to make wise decisions about 
our personal lives and even to discern good and bad (Evil), as we go 
through the experiences of our lives.  He does at  times, leave ques-
tions  unanswered and  this  is  when we  must  show absolute  faith 
in Him and His "Word."  The word we trust is  the   book called  the
Bible.  It was written by some 40 men over a  period of 1,600  years.  
They were  not the authors  but wrote under  the Divine Inspiration
of the  Lord God of  the Bible.  This  book  has  been  preserved in a
miraculous  manner,  and  is  dependable  and  applicable  in  every 
situation.

      The Scripture to which we refer is the letter of  the Apostle Paul 
to the Church in Rome, written within the first 70 years of the walk 
on earth of our  Lord,  Jesus Christ.  He  quoted the Old Testament 
book  of  Psalm  and  said, "There is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one;  
There  is  none  who  understands;  There  is  none  who seeks after
God.  They have turned aside;  They have  together  become unpro-
fitable;  There is none who does good, no, not one." 
(Psalms 14:1-3,  Ecclesiastes 7:20,  Romans 3: 10-12)

     Under this indictment, we must turn to the one who is able to 
determine good and bad, since He always does  good  and never
evil.  He alone, based on our personal relationship with His Son 
Jesus Christ, can bring us to the place where  we not only know 
the good but are able to  practice good and to shun evil.  But,  to 
know why bad  things happen to seeming good people,  that may 
be a mystery He has chosen to conceal from us for His own good 
reasons.  

 (Read Romans 3: 10-18)  donporter 10.22.12  edited 11.29.14 &
3.16.17...