Why is it that God gets blamed for all the bad things that happen, but never gets the credit when something good and wonderful occurs? One might hear of an unexplained healing happen, someone awaking from a coma after many years, and even doctors saying that they can't explain it; and yet, there will inevitably be an attempt to explain it in such a way that denies God the credit.
I would agree with those who say that life is hard. It is very hard at times. Cruelly hard at times. Very complicated and impossible to understand or comprehend at times. I believe we were never intended to endure, withstand and experience some of the things that we do. We were not created for that. I am of the belief that God never intended for us to experience the loss of someone to death, or to face death ourselves. God is about life. Not death. We are not Omnipotent as God is. We are fragile. We are weak. We do not have the ability to endure the devastation that death brings. We do not see things as God sees things. We do not have the perspective that God has. We may catch a glimpse of a heavenly perspective, but lose sight of it quickly in the midst of our circumstances.
A heavenly perspective is a difficult thing to maintain.
Without God, nothing makes sense. Even with believing in God, sometimes things make no sense. Without God, however, there is no hope. There's nothing to look forward to that is definite. With God, throughout the pain and trials, we are working towards an ultimate end that is beautiful.
With God, you can believe that there's a grace in the midst of pain that you cannot imagine if you are not living in the storm causing the pain. One example, when my dear cousin, just a year younger than me and like a sister, was dying of cancer. She was on the other side of the grace line. She was living in a place of grace that I could not understand (even as a believer myself). I would look at her and try to be in that place that she was. She was so peaceful. I was in turmoil. She told me the story of a day during her illness when she thought she was dying. She was filled with fear. She was in severe pain. She was in a room in the emergency room at the hospital. She was alone. She said she felt someone walk into the room behind her and physically felt a hand on her shoulder. She said the pain left her body. She felt profound peace. She said that Jesus visited her. There was nobody else there. From that day on, she had this grace. She passed-away at the age of 24. (She "visited" me in a dream on the night she died. She told me, "Look, Jan, I'm healed." I've never seen her so full of joy, so happy.)
I remember from the book, The Hiding Place, by a Christian named Corrie Ten Boom about living in a Concentration Camp. She and her family helped to hide Jews in their home in Holland in WWII (I once was blessed to get to visit that home), and they were caught. She witnessed her sister suffer and die in that camp. She reflected back to a time when she was a little girl and asked her father what it would be like to die. He asked her, "When do I give you the money for the ticket to ride on the train? Three weeks before?" She replied, "No, right before we get on the train." He told her that when it is our time to go, we will get a grace ticket. We can't imagine how we will handle something like death, but then, we're not in the situation at this moment, and therefore, do not have the grace to handle it. When we are in the situation is when we're given the grace ticket. The ability to endure. That ticket is handed to us by the Lord Himself, and I believe with it, He takes our hand in His and walks with us, giving us the strength we need.
There are promises that God has given to us. That He will never leave us or forsake us. I believe that all things will be reconciled to God, and become the way He intended them to be all along. In places throughout the Scriptures, this point is clearly made.
There is an excellent book out by Randy Alcorn called, Heaven. It talks about what we might expect on the other side of this life. I found this book comforting; especially during the long year we were caring for my father while he was dying of cancer. They are not just hopeful words. Much of it is evident in Scripture, and some is solely based on God's character (of which we can learn about in the Scriptures, as well as, through walking in relationship with Him.)
It is true that much does not make sense from our current perspective. The challenge I find is to keep a Kingdom perspective (God's Kingdom). That Kingdom that will come in full one day. That Kingdom that we can live in part in the here and now as well, but mixed with the way the world is in its current state (fallen). We can catch a glimpse of the Kingdom here on earth. The natural beauty of the earth, for example. Or, the loving, kind act that someone performs for another. It's not an easy thing to maintain. Someone cuts you off in traffic. Our natural inclination is to get angry and then get even.
A Kingdom perspective is to respond in the opposite way. In love. It's not an easy thing to do. But it makes a huge impact on a heart if we do. I recall a story I heard from a former gang member in the Philippines. He had come into a relationship with God, and had left the gang. The lead gang member found him and started to beat him up. With each punch to the former gang member's face, he would say, "Jesus loves you." The perpetrator was unrelenting. But with each blow, the response was, "Jesus loves you." The one throwing the punches finally yelled out to him, "Why do you keep saying that?" He replied, "Because, Jesus loves you." The gang leader came into faith through that inexplicable display of love and forgiveness.
In our present state, seeing things in this way takes discipline and Divine strength. God is love. He gives us that love if we let Him in. If we yield to His love, it can shine through us. It is a battle of the flesh. It is the slaying of the flesh. But God intends good things for us. They are heavenly things and not things of this world. The heavenly things can be experienced here and now in part, but the things yet to come are beautiful, perfect and in their fullness forever.
The pain and suffering in the now were never intended for us. But God promises to be with us, and that there's relief and no more grief on the other side of this world. Take heart. Things don't always make sense. Oftentimes they don't. But we don't have God to blame for those things and we have Him to eternally thank for ultimately restoring and rescuing us from things forever being grievous, painful and wrong.
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