The Good God of a Not-So-Good World

In the beginning
God said “this is good”
All this is perfect
To be as it should

The people, the systems
The world where they’d dwell
They walked with their God
And it all worked out well

But perfection sought correction in an option known as choice
And in suggesting that we question God, we thought we’d found our voice
That decision came with power, I’m sure we’d all agree
And those side effects keep hurting us, through all humanity

Now when we look around, we see the world in dust and shambles
Could the God who created butterflies also give us brambles?
So many different ways to live, and most of them uncouth
Is it even possible to know a holy Truth?

‘Cause when I see the people that He made to look like Him
It makes me wonder if He’s good, or evil to the brim
Is He blessed or is He stressed, is He a chaotic mess?
Is He selfish, is He kind? Does He often change His mind?

And round and round we go, til our frazzled brains turn blue
Because if we view God through our lens, we’ll tell Him that we’re through
“If this is You, I’ve had enough! People do such awful stuff! 
If You love us, do You care? In fact, I doubt You’re even there.”

So then we sit in silence, after slamming every door
And while we try hard not to hear, something whispers “More.”
We’ve crossed this God off every list
Perhaps there’s something that we missed?

When we go back to the beginning, the intro of all things
We see a God who set the stage, for His cherished human beings

Wait–cherished? I thought He was angry at us?
I thought He cursed the people and kicked them out of Eden?
But Genesis says God cursed the serpent and the ground
Not His children 

God cursed the liar and the land
Not the people who He loves

But now we have a cursed enemy who follows us around
Continually destroying things, wreaking havoc, he’s hell-bound

Sin destroys unity, community
Take perfect opportunity to say
“For you? Just kidding. It’s actually for me.”

Sin blinds our eyes and stuffs our ears
Sin fills our mind with empty fears

Because when we decide God is no longer trustworthy
All we have left is our broken intuition
With a liar breathing down our neck

But the God with whom sin cannot dwell
Still knows His people very well
He know we’re still deceived by sin
And it can only be cured from within

So He does a heart transplant
And He takes His own heart
He sends Jesus to earth
Death to outsmart

He goes to hell and back and claims the keys
The sin-bound prisoners He frees
The heavy burdens He gently lifts
And the weary world rejoices

Jesus, the One the world was made through
Cured our blindness, gave us a better view
“All things will be made new”
And the world changes with…you

And me

Being light in the fear-filled, dark places
Bringing warmth to the poorest, cold spaces
Showing joy to the most hopeless faces
Giving hope to the “ran-out-of-graces”

Because Jesus is returning
And He will look around at His world
To find His people doing good things
And destroy everything not-good, forever

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