Yancey quote...

I have been reading the Philip Yancey gem Where is God when it Hurts? and came across a terrific paragraph.  His point is that God made the world good, but it has been polluted by sin.  While we see the skill and beauty of God in His Creation, man has labored continually to destroy God's handiwork.  I speak not in terms of environmental destruction, through there could be a case easily made, but the wreckage man has made of His relationship with the Creator.  We have been separated by God because of sin:  sickness, death, and suffering have followed.  Praise God He seeks our restoration through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ!  Thank God for His wondrous grace.  This quote can be found on page 59:

Imagine this scenario:  vandals break into a museum displaying works from Picasso's Blue Period.  Motivated by sheer destructiveness, they splash red paint all over the paintings and slash them with knives.  It would be the height of unfairness to display these works - a mere sampling of Picasso's creative genius, and spoiled at that - as a representative of the artist.  The same applies to God's creation.  God has already hung a "Condemned" sign above the earth, and has promised judgment and restoration.  That this world spoiled by evil and suffering still exists at all is an example of God's mercy, not his cruelty.   - Philip Yancey