Today's Devotional

January 14, 2009

Subject: God's Torture Program

Matthew 18:34 "And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him."

To be clear, this scripture is not condoning any type of torture when it says "the lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors," but I think it clarifies something on the issue of torture, which has been in the news a lot lately.

Yesterday a Bush administration official charged that we tortured a Saudi national accused of masterminding the 9/ll plot that killed thousands of U.S. citizens. When you read the statement about how he was tortured, I thought to myself, "my goodness I torture myself more than that on an average day teaching at my high school." The torture included the interrogators making the detainee wear women's underwear and insults to the detainee's mother and sister. The administration official has therefore declared that she won't allow prosecutions to go forward because of these "heinous" acts.

Let's see...he planned and executed the killing of thousands of Americans and we called him names so we're even?

This is really a problem for us and will definitely be a challenge for the new President as he has vowed we will not torture. Isn't torture very subjective? Doesn't God sometimes torture us?

The principle is simply this: If we would submit rightfully to authority, then we would realize that we are where God wants us and everything, including situations like Job's, are not torture, but meant to reprove and correct and strengthen us. That's God's torture program.

It may seem uncomfortable and painful, but when He is the authority, it's all good.

Today we may disagree about what torture is for prisoners who have offended this country, but as for us, the believers, if we disobey our God, we will be "tormented" or "tortured" until we get right with Him.

Carlen