Humanity gets a new start but there is immediately a problem with Noah and his son Ham. The flood gave humanity a fresh beginning but sin is still part of the human condition. We continue to feel the consequences of sin on our lives. We experience the consequences of our own sin and the consequence of the sin of others.
A temptation we face is to blame the consequences of our sin on God. For example, let's say that someone has a destructive personal habit. The consequence of that habit is cancer. The temptation is to ask "why would God allow me to have cancer?" As a pastor I hear such comments on a regular basis. We want to blame others, even, God for the consequences of our actions.
At the heart of Christianity is the willingness to confess our sin. To acknowledge that we have done wrong. The power of such confession is that it opens the door to God's forgiveness.
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I recently re-read the old book, "The Will of God" by Leslie Weatherhead which discusses this very issue. Weatherhead reminds us that God has given us a lot of freedom and does not control us like puppets - even those who are committing terrible sin. As this scripture reminds us, God wants good for us; this is what Weatherhead calls "God's intentional will." My belief (and Weatherhead's) is that because of being allowed this freedom and to sin, many things happen that are not His will - such as disease or car wrecks or 9-11 or numerous other horrific events. God tells us to come to Him for rest which is what a loving father would say. I cannot believe that He would make all those things happen.
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