The unfairness of life can be so crushing, at times. A gentleman from my church was in an accident a few days ago. He's stable, but still in ICU with two small brain bleeds, a broken neck (thankfully no spinal cord injury) and some broken ribs. I know this man's wife, two daughters and families well and my heart breaks for all of them. This family has been through too many 'tough things' - too many accidents, injuries, fires, heart attacks and other health issues.
At one time, I would have had some fairly mean and unbalanced thoughts about why God is 'doing' all this to them, but now I view it so differently because I don't think God causes harm to us. (John 10:10 and Matthew 7:9-11)
I recently heard Jonas and Anne Beiler (Auntie Anne's Pretzels) speak ... they gave four reasons why bad things happen.
At one time, I would have had some fairly mean and unbalanced thoughts about why God is 'doing' all this to them, but now I view it so differently because I don't think God causes harm to us. (John 10:10 and Matthew 7:9-11)
God is love and God is good!
I recently heard Jonas and Anne Beiler (Auntie Anne's Pretzels) speak ... they gave four reasons why bad things happen.
- Choices we make
- Consequences from choices
- Accidents happen
- Satan
My counselor says that while Old Testament scriptures show that God did cause tragedies in that time, things changed when Jesus came. Because of his victory over death, we now live in the time of grace where God's connection with humans doesn't include him 'hurting' us. Yes, he can use (redeem) any situation but that doesn't mean he needed it to mold you or I (or anyone) into a 'better' person.
My Pastor Art says, "We live in a Satan-dominated world and he's out to kill, lie, steal and destroy." I agree - God is not in charge here, Satan is. My other Pastor Vince taught on hell recently and for the first time, I realized Satan was not thrown into hell when he was thrown out of heaven. No, he was thrown to earth (Revelation 12:7-9) and he's here to harm.
Yes, God is all powerful and all knowing, but just because you have power doesn't mean you have to use it. At this time, I think God has chosen to give us and Satan free will and choice, so I don't think God causes the 'bad things' to happen.
This quote from The Shack says it best -
"Just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn't mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don't ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes. That will only lead you to false notions about me. Grace doesn't depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will see grace in many facets and colors." - William P. Young
My Pastor Art says, "We live in a Satan-dominated world and he's out to kill, lie, steal and destroy." I agree - God is not in charge here, Satan is. My other Pastor Vince taught on hell recently and for the first time, I realized Satan was not thrown into hell when he was thrown out of heaven. No, he was thrown to earth (Revelation 12:7-9) and he's here to harm.
Yes, God is all powerful and all knowing, but just because you have power doesn't mean you have to use it. At this time, I think God has chosen to give us and Satan free will and choice, so I don't think God causes the 'bad things' to happen.
This quote from The Shack says it best -
"Just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn't mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don't ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes. That will only lead you to false notions about me. Grace doesn't depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will see grace in many facets and colors." - William P. Young
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