Originally Posted - Saturday, March 15, 2008
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. Genesis 1:2-5
When God created the light, He called it good. The Scripture doesn’t say that He created the darkness. Where did it come from? Some say that when Satan fell from God’s favor before the beginning of time, that he was cast down to the earth and banished from Heaven. Could it be that Satan’s presence here brought the darkness? But if God knew Satan was here, then why would He choose this planet to create a paradise? Perhaps it was the sheer desolation of this place that stirred the heart of restoration within the Creator.
It is interesting to me that God did not choose to eliminate darkness when He created light. Rather, He used it for His purposes – as a time when Creation can rest. He balanced it with the light so that it didn’t dominate the planet as it had done before. This concept of balance in Creation is a key belief in American Indian spirituality. When the balance is compromised, then the earth reacts in order to gain a balanced state again. The dark-dominated fall/winter is pushed out by a light-dominated spring/summer and visa versa.
In Asian culture, a similar belief exists called Yin and Yang. The Yin/Yang theory goes one step further and says that good and evil must also coexist in balance. Can we as believers in Christ open our minds to consider this? There is strong evidence in Scripture of the importance of balance in life. Ecclesiastes 3 is full of statements supporting a balanced approach in everything.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
If there is a time for everything done on the earth, is it possible that it could include allowing a time and place for evil to exist? Only God truly knows. God could easily stamp out the evil on the earth today. It is His love for those who are evil that curbs His wrath. As His followers, it is our role to help Him to promote the good in this world. Whether the purpose of that good is to balance evil or to eradicate it is something I’m going to leave up to Him
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