For the last couple of months, I have been planning on teaching on the topic above at our Sunday, 3/30 - 9:15 Learning Community. I had no idea that we'd be experiencing tragedy, crushing loss, & this kind of pain so up close & personal within our church family.
"Why do bad things happen?" is a tough question - one that usually gets answered with one of the trite statements or religious cliches that are so infuriating to the people that they get bequeathed to. Things like:
Well, the Lord moves in mysterious ways...
God took (fill in the blank with a loved ones name) because He must have needed (loved one's name) more than we did..
God is trying to teach us to depend on Him in hard times...
My personal favorite, which was passed on to me by several well meaning people after my 17 year-old brother had died from non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, a cancer that starts out in the lymph system.
God must have known that your brother was going to fall into some terrible sin in the future, so He decided to take him now...
Huh? What the fat? Are you serious?
These & other statements have caused me to spend a lot of time pondering - to me, here's what some of the above statements are saying:
Mysterious ways? What does this mean? That God is unpredictable & just might SNAP when we least expect it, killing loved ones in the process. "Sorry. My bad."
God kills our loved ones because He "needed" them more than we do? Hmm. I read in the Bible that 2 people were 'translated' into heaven by God: Enoch & Elijah - He wanted them with Him, & He didn't kill them to get them.
God is trying to teach us something by killing our loved ones? The lesson today will be "you need me." I'm going to illustrate this by killing your brother.
God killed my brother in a preemptive strike to prevent his future falling into sin? Hmm. I had always thought that God dealt with our sin through the cross...
God is good - & is predictably good - everything that we need to know about the person & nature of God is wrapped up in Christ Jesus - not just the "good" stuff. All of it. (Check out Colossians 1:19,20 & Colossians 2:9,10 He thinks good thoughts towards us, likes us (not only loves us,) & is dependably the same yesterday, today, & forever. We can rest assured that He is & will be our ever-present help in time of trouble, & is not the one capriciously causing our pain to drive us to Him.
Next time - we'll examine the cause of all things bad...
Posts
3 launchings into the blogosphere....:
I will have to come back and finish this tomorrow. I threw up a little when I read those special "reasons" of why badness happens. People hurt me. I can't believe I am responsible to grow five of them.
Ugh... to hear some of the statements, reminds me why God has called us to be his hands and feet. It seems many people forget we have an enemy and we ALSO have an advocate, he died on the cross...
Meet Jesus.
Good to find your blog, by the way... Alexis and I have a lot on our plates right now, and it's so good to be in the adventure. Thanks for your thought provoking posts.
Shontell - You have Mike to help with the 5. Good thing too. 1 parent is a rough go.
Travis- glad to hear from you... Greetings to Alexis & your little one. BTW: I'm glad God's not mad too...:) Blessings to you
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