Being Wronged for Doing Right

The old adage, "No good turn goes unpunished," was never truer than it was with British aid worker to Syria, David Haines, who was beheaded by one of the mongrel dogs of the Islamic State known as ISIS or ISIL or as I prefer to label them IHNS (I have no soul).  David's high crime deserving of death?  He provided help to everyone regardless of race, creed, religion or color.  He was in Syria helping the hurting Muslims, for whom ISIS claims to be fighting for but really cares nothing about.  

This kind of thing always begs the question, "Why would God allow such a thing?"  Why wouldn't God protect a man like David Haines from the godless terrorist who butchered him?  How can a good God allow such bad things?  A better question might be, "How could he not?"  

How would God go about protecting every good person from every bad one without taking away the freedom of each.  David's freedom of choice allowed him to go into harm's way to bring aid to a devastated population.  The ISIS thug's freedom of choice allowed him to take David's life.  God could have prevented David from going to Syria or prevented the terrorist from being able to capture him.  Freedom of choice goes out the window in either case.

So what?  What shouldn't God take away the freedom of choice?  The reason?  God is love (1 Jn 4:8).  Love is based on the exercise of free choice.  God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and told them not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden.  He could have put a barrier around it but that would have taken away their choice and therefore their ability to respond in love.

As long as evil exists, there will be the ability to choose evil over good.  In the Judgment to come, evil will be cast out, leaving only good to inherit heaven.  In that heavenly existence, there will be choice but those who inherit it will desire good.  Until then, we live in a fallen world where many chooce evil over good.  Therefore, our good deeds will be in contradiction with that evil and will draw fire from it.

In other words, we live in a world at war.  Even when it is not as evidentt as it is now with the Islamic lunatics loose across the globe, we are still at war with evil.  And evil, will always strike out at good. How can good deeds not draw a bad response in an evil world?  What happened to Jesus, the apostles, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King?  

God calls us to choose good and many do.  But so many others choose evil and we are living in a world where evil is abundant.  As the days grow in that evil presence, we can expect to draw even more fire from the Evil One.  As Paul warned, "everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Tim 3:12).  Jus' Say'n.