No April Fools
In ancient times, pagan Greeks and Romans also believed in “fates,” gods who determined when life began, when it ended, and all that happened in between; and “furies,” gods who tormented the wicked in the afterlife. They believed that the fates controlled the casting of dice as a method of predicting the future. Sometimes they were thought to play tricks on humans, tormenting the good and blessing the wicked.
Now, the true God of the Bible does not play “April Fool” jokes on human beings. He does not play tricks with their lives. God is merciful and good. He is also just and perfect. God clearly reveals His Law to show us His perfect requirements for life, and He reveals His Gospel to show us His loving solution to human sin through the death of Christ Jesus. God has clearly promised judgment to those who break His laws and the forgiveness of sins and heaven to those who believe on Jesus as their Savior from sin and death. God does not change or play tricks in His Word.
However, individuals sometimes experience trials that seem to deny that God is good to them. They see the wicked become rich and powerful while the believers are despised and oppressed. They see wicked people go unpunished, as if God condoned their evils; while some believers were put into prison, killed, thrown into a fire or a lion’s den, treated as rebels, or threatened with death.
Does God play April Fool’s tricks on His people? Never! The Psalmist answers this perplexing question for us: “Those who are afar off from You shall perish…but it is good for me to draw near to You. For You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Psalm 73:27, 28, 24). What happens in our earthly life only seems to contradict God’s promises. Trials and afflictions can also be blessings as God guides believers to His heavenly home, through faith in Jesus and His work of salvation.