Do you want sufficiency or poverty, health or disease, happiness or depression, life or death? If this seems like a silly question, why are so few folks really seriously looking for the part we play in obtaining what we want?
Although many people believe it is up to “Fate,” I promise you it is largely the decisions we make that determine what we have in life – and especially where we live in eternity.
Before this Griffin family moved to Asheboro in 1969 and as part of my year as a chief resident in surgery I spent three months in India at the Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore.
In my diary of those days I raised the question as to why there was such incredible poverty in some areas and prosperity in others. It seemed that those at CMCH were doing okay as compared to those living in pasteboard boxes in Bombay or on the sidewalks of Madras. But my question went unanswered.
In the seventies I made two mission trips to Haiti. One was in the company of a good friend who warned me that Haiti was more economically depressed that anywhere else in the world.
But he had not been to India. He was wrong. Haiti was wonderful compared to India, but I had to admit that it was the bottom of the totem pole in the Western Hemisphere. India has a lot of well-to-do people, but where there is poverty it is often horrendous. Also by this time I had a definite theory as to why there are some places with unbelievable poverty. Read on.
When this already blighted area was hit by one of the worst earthquakes ever Pat Robertson received verbal tar and feathers when he reviewed some historical facts about Haiti that many folks may not have known.
I was watching the day he reminded his 700 Club audience that Haiti broke free from France when they made a pact with the devil. It was a huge mistake. They have never yet been as well off as they were with the French. Their history as an independent nation in league with the devil has been one of desperate poverty, continuous malevolent dictators, political corruption, and a largely hand-to-mouth existence. Pat said that the earthquake was simply one more phase of their self-imposed curse.
Robertson’s remarks needed more details, although the 700 Club audience understood what he was saying. But many others immediately said that Robertson was an idiot and that the earthquake was definitely not a judgment of God.
Well, Pat never said that it was. He should have pointed out that the devil, with whom the Haitian leadership had allied themselves, was the one responsible for all of the mess and mayhem. This is true even though the devil is worshiped in their voodoo religion. Please remember that the devil wants to kill us all, but God will not let him. He is on a leash. However, we have a lot to say with how long that leash is. And being allied with him or worshipping him gives him ability to carry out a lot of his desires.
People should know that God never causes storms, even though insurance contracts often refer to natural disasters as “acts of God.” If God causes storms and the like then Jesus would not have stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus also indicated this His followers should also stop storms.
Unlike Haiti, the United States lives more in blessings than bad stuff because our Founders Fathers had the vision to establish this country as a Christian nation. But at present Haiti is turning to God while our leadership no longer is unanimous that we are a Christian nation. Beware! We would be wise to vote out any leader who does not want us to be a nation “under God.”
What is the lesson in this for us as individual persons? It is simply this – we must be very discerning and circumspect in anything that has possible spiritual, i.e. supernatural roots as to whether an activity is definitely Godly or possibly demonic.
Jesus says in John 10:10, “The thief has come only to kill, steal, and destroy, but I have come that you might enjoy an abundant and full life.” That explains why you cannot plunge carelessly into anything that looks good on the surface without knowing what is inside. That is like opening a package that might be colorfully wrapped but a good and wise friend warns you that it might contain a bomb or a rattlesnake! The Bible gives us fair warning as to the “gifts” that come from the devil.
I know there are plenty of folks who may disagree with the following list (which is only partial), but here goes. My warning list includes – in no particular order – astrology, and horoscopes, seances, channeling, hypnosis, acupuncture, yoga, tai chi chauan, palm-reading and fortune-telling, tarot cards, dowsing and divining, taking hallucinogens, and religions that are not Bible-based. Add drunkenness, because you don’t call it “spirits” for no reason.
You may be mad now, but do not say that one who would desire that you receive God’s blessings rather than the devil’s stuff has not warned you. The Bible must be our guide and nothing else. Do yourself a favor and look into the origins of things in which you are involved. The devil is good at planting spiritual landmines! He has no power to take you to hell, but he can make you mighty miserable here if you play among his rattlesnakes that he disguises like a simple exercise program, for instance.
Haiti is still paying for making a bad choice. I believe they are repenting of their error, and the devil has no power to keep them from a good future. We should learn from our mistakes and from the mistakes of others. What do you think?
Marion Griffin lives in Asheboro. His columns appear regularly in The Randolph Guide.
