"God Prevails"

"But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhaditest the praises of Israel." (Psalms 22:3) Though we may not receive an answer right away, we must never forget to keep on praising Him, for He is our God. Just because we might not think He is listening to us, does not mean that He is not there, and that He has removed Himself from being concerned for our welfare; because He has promised to always be with us, even to the very end! So; the question that is always asked, Why do bad things happen to good people? It is the question that seems to come up the most from people young and old, and one that causes people to wonder if God really does exist, or if He is really the one who is calling all the shots. However; there is something about this world that we inhabit that we must never forget, that it is fallen and broken, and is cursed by sin and the result of sin; but even though sin and death abounds, so does the beauty of God's love and the wonders of His creation. In this verse above, we have a word which is a name that was given to Jacob; it is the word 'Israel', and it was given to Jacob the night he wrestled with God all night, while his brother was coming to him with an army of men. If you know the story, then you know how Jacob had tricked his brother out of their fathers blessing, and he was fearful that his brother was coming for revenge. The word 'Israel' means "God Prevails", and God had given it to Jacob that night with a message of hope and deliverance, which was based upon the fact that Jacob had prevailed against God that night as they wrestled, and had said he would not stop until He blessed him. The name Jacob means 'heel holder' or 'supplanter', a layer of snares; and within this name change that was given, we have the illustration of God's ability to direct His will, even when it looks like the enemy has prevailed, God will always prevail; even when things look as horrible as they could possibly be, God can take the worst circumstances you could think of and turn them to good. Imagine what was going through the minds of Jesus' mother and brothers, or even his followers, as He hung on that cross. They must have been saying with all of their hearts, How can this happen to someone as good as this man was? All He ever did was bring blessings; healing the lame, the blind, the sick; bring those dead to life; feeding thousands with nothing more than a few fish and a loaf of bread. Why would God let this happen to someone such as this? Yet it pleased God to have Him suffer, for it was the only way that He could bring us to Himself. The word "praises" that is used in the verse above means more than just a song or singing, it also means 'renown', 'fame', 'glory'; the object of praise. Israel is God's renown; from the calling of Abraham out of the land of his fathers, to the birth of a nation; God's chosen people were His choice, and His purpose was to bless the world with the chosen people, and He did: God always prevails! Another word to look at in this verse is the word "holy", because it is a word that means 'free from defilement of crimes' and 'The Holy One of Israel'. One thing is for certain: when we all get up into heaven, no one will be asking, "Why did that have to happen?" Just keep praising God...