Dinosaur Dig Spray Can

 
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; – Proverbs 3:5
 
Recently, I was blessed to take some folks on a dinosaur dig in Glendive, Montana!  We found amazing bones and had experiences that will last a lifetime. Please allow me to share one experience.
 
My dear wife is so kind, she packed everything that would I need during the trip.  One very important piece was a can of spray on sunblock.
 
On the first day as we were getting prepared to hike up to the dig site I pulled out my can on sunblock and tried to spray it on my arms.  To my frustration, it wouldn’t spray. All it did was run down the can.
 
Aargh!  A brand new can of sunblock and it was already broken.  In my head I was thinking about how stupid the design was that it would break so easily.  Anyway, I pressed the spray button, let it run down the can, then smeared the sun block on the can onto my hands.  It worked and we had a great day, plus I didn’t get sunburned.
 
The next day as I pulled the can out to go through the process again I happened to look closer at the can.  I noticed something that I’d not noticed the day before. There was a dial under the sprayer. I twisted the dial and pushed the sprayer, this time it worked just fine.
 
Here’s what this incident taught me.  We’re living in a time when there are many who are frustrated, angry or even disappointed with God.  I have conversations with young folks who say they can’t believe in God because a good God wouldn’t allow the evil that we see.
 
May I say that if we’re going to address this issue, we’re going to have to use the Bible correctly.  We’re not going to be able to answer the challenging questions of today if we try to use man’s wisdom and discount God’s Word.  If we do, we’ll use the Bible the same way that I was using that can of sunblock, incorrectly! By the way, if we use the Word of God incorrectly, why should we expect a good outcome?
 
Blaming God for the evil that we see in the world isn’t the answer.  And, if we’re going to blame God for something shouldn’t we at least take a look at what He says about Himself on the topic.  
 

• He told us that He wants to have a relationship with us and doesn’t want anyone to be separated from Him.  (2 Pet. 3:9)
• God makes it clear what He wanted for us by what He gave us initially, and that’s perfection.  At the end of creation everything was perfect, no death, no tears, no sorrow. (Gen. 1:31)
• It’s NOT God’s fault there is death and suffering in the world, it’s our fault!  He gave us perfection, we rejected it which caused the problems that we see today. (Rom. 5:12, 1 Cor. 15:21)
• Our sin caused death. (Rom. 5:17, 6:23, James 1;15, plus MANY more.)

 
Me getting angry for what I see in the world and blaming God for it is the same as using that spray can incorrectly.
 
Amazingly, we’re free to use the Bible that way.  God loves us so much that He allows us to receive or reject what He tells us.  We can mock, ridicule, place blame, etc., but it will never help resolve the issue that each of us ultimately has.  And that is, we need a relationship with the one that created us in His image and loves us enough to die for us while we’re rejecting Him!
 
Make sure that you’re using the Word of God correctly.  Because if you’re not, you could end up in a place you won’t like.  Stay Bold!