Light in Today’s Darkness

Why does G-d allow for a world in which the homosexual influence dominates everything?

When it happened in the generation of Noah, He wiped out mankind.

When it happened in the city-state of Sodom, He wiped out Sodom. In both cases, not a single soul survived the chaos. Noah, Lot, and their families were forewarned to escape. To this day, Sodom is the lowest point on earth, and the land is barren.

It also happened in Ancient Egypt, and in the seven nations that occupied the Holy Land before the Jewish People came. Hashem plagued Egypt 10 times, decimating it, and fought alongside us to expel the evil nations from the Land so we could settle it.

You would think someone would stand in front of a huge microphone and scream this warning to the four corners of the earth. Everybody is too afraid to make a peep.

A political leader can be forced to resign by stating the obvious: This behavior is perverted, deviant, and something G-d hates.

A business owner can get sued by refusing to serve as an accomplice to a spiritual crime that G-d calls an abomination, several times in the Torah.

An honest, hard-working person can be denied a raise or a promotion simply because he acts in holiness.

Why is G-d allowing this?

We know that Hashem can end this ongoing tragedy in the blink of an eye. He’s done it before. So why doesn’t He? The first principle of faith states that Hashem does everything at every moment, and all of it is according to His plan – which is perfect.

This makes today very good. It comes from Hashem, and it is for our own benefit.

Here are five ways in which the world as it is right now benefits each and every one of us:

To Teach Us Humility – Hashem is the True Judge, not us. Everything happens on His clock. We need to accept His judgment. Even after the world reached this point, Hashem allowed it to stay that way for 120 years so the generation of Noah could repent. Even Sodom was able to go on with “business as usual” until Hashem decided it was time. We know that, according to the 11^th principle of faith, Hashem rewards those who perform His commandments, and He punishes those who don’t, but we don’t know when or how. That’s where we have the opportunity to strengthen or faith and humility.

True Fear and True Courage – it’s easy to stand up for morality inside a Yeshiva, or a Shul, or even a community guided by “Judeo-Christian” values. There is nothing to lose by preaching to the choir. There is also nothing to be afraid of.

But what about telling your boss that you cannot attend that company networking event? It costs you. When you are competing with two other people, both with the same stellar work record, it’s intangibles like these that make or break your next step. Do you go to the bar, knowing that members of the same sex will be doing things G-d finds repulsive, or do you stick to your guns and make your absence felt.

What about being in class, or among your community, or in a social group with wide connections and a huge-mouth? When they talk about “progressive values,” and speaking for Hashem is social suicide, do you stand up for Him and the Torah He gave us?

You can only make a great effort when you are pushed into the right position to do so. How great is this:

The Lord desires those who fear Him, those who hope for His kindness. (Psalms 147:11)

We Learn the True Value of Repentance – G-d says through his prophet, “As I live, says the Lord God, I do not wish for the death of the wicked, but for the wicked to repent of his way so that he may live. Repent, repent of your evil ways, for why should you die, O house of Israel.” (Ezekiel 33:11).

Had there been just 10 righteous men in Sodom, G-d would have spared the city. Even as the floodwaters began as a simple drizzle, had the people made repentance, Hashem would have saved mankind. Even after all of the immorality that exists today, Hashem still gives us food. He breathes air into our lungs, and pumps blood throughout our bodies – even as we use them against His Will.

He does this so we can make teshuva. If people who commit abominations in morality, business, even murder can be pardoned, think of how much we can do with our own repentance. If He is willing to erase the worst sins of today, never despair! Think of how He will surely erase your worst sins if you make repentance.

Greater Faith – nothing comes without effort. You cannot get fit without the constant suffering of being out of breath for 30 minutes a day. You cannot become strong unless at least 100 pounds of raw metal is pressing down on your chest and you need to push it up, time and time again. There is no advancement without resistance. Effort, constant effort, and determination to the point of defiance in the face of submission is what Hashem loves from His children.

Faith comes when you refuse to expose your children to people of the same gender and will stick to your guns in the face of a school administrator, a boss, a fellow parent, even a charlatan parading around as a “religious” leader, threatening you for resisting.

Only in the face of such collective and dominant resistance is there a demand to strengthen our emunah. Only when the darkness is so fierce can a clear line be drawn between who is with Hashem, and who isn’t. Maybe that is why the world is becoming such a vice: Hashem is forcing the righteous to increase their faith to the levels necessary for Mashiach to come!

End of Days – At the End of Days, we are warned that the Satan will have all the power. He is about to die, and before he does he will unleash his most powerful offensive with his last breath. The depth of darkness today is the best hint that Mashiach is on his way.

Will we live to see the light at the end of the tunnel? Will we be resurrected with the dead to enjoy the Divine Light of the last millennium of this existence?

Will we give up in despair of everything around us?

This is the true test. The fact that the forces of light are being lulled into a deception that they are losing is the greatest sign from G-d that the time has come!

Personal Tip: Turn off your news feed. Don’t read anything in the news. Remind yourself that current events can be boiled down to – the flowers are in bloom, the sun rose, and I am alive. Hashem is doing today what He has done for all of us these past 5,777⁺ years, Hallelujah!

Today’s world is a small piece in the greater puzzle. On its own, it may seem difficult, but put into perspective of what this temporary block of time is a part of, and will become, the light in today’s darkness is brighter than ever.