Faith

[riverbowman]

We're promised suffering in this life. When something like this happens we'll probably get angry, we may question, we may even doubt... but God designed us and he won't be at all surprised by our weakness. He’s bigger than our despair and He can handle it. He wants all of it. He wants us to bring it all straight to His feet and lay it all out there instead of internalizing it or being ashamed for how we feel.

[DRT]

I feel we need to be careful using this phrase at times such as the OP is touching.



I say this because my Mom is the only only child left of three...my uncle died of a brain tumor when he was only 10 & my aunt died from breast cancer in her 30's. Many of their very dear friends would quote 'His will' as an attempt to console them?? While I'm sure the intensions were sincere, It was not God's will for Lily or my aunt & uncle to die. He wants us to prosper in every positive aspect of our time here and that includes everything from health to finances to our relationship with Him. My Gramp took these words to heart & held a grudge against God imo for the rest of his life. Called God a cruel sob that it would be His will to take two of his children. I tried to discuss the issue biblically with Gramp, but the damage was too deep.



The Bible says: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."



I don't know why some prayers are answered & others aren't. I don't know why good things happen to bad people & bad things happen the most devoted, but I have the satisfaction of knowing when my time comes & I have a lot of questions.



I'm not ragging on you brother with your quote, but felt it was worth discussing further due to it hitting home so very hard & having a lot of time to think about how those words affected Gramp to the very point I still question where his faith was when he died on Christmas Eve at the age of 93.



Again, everything really is about His will, but I do not believe the bad / evil circumstances that we all deal with is anything God wants for our lives...that belongs to the enemy.

I can agree with your premise but I think people need to understand that praying for an outcome that is not within God's will is going to end up with a lot of folks questioning their faith. Just like we have to tell our children no at times so does Our Father. I know for me I didn't like for my kids to be disappointed or see them cry but in life those disappointments are real. I don't believe The Lord enjoys seeing us hurt or disappointed as well. However that is going to happen from time to time as well.

Gary

[Dusty Britches]

Lots of great words here.

I believe that God answers all prayers but not necessarily the way we want. His perfect will and plan means we will suffer but it's to turn us or people around us toward His path. Not everything bad that happens to us is for us. How we respond to tragedy shows others the path to God. Many years ago it was others' response to devastation that turned me to Christianity.

[Playa]

I feel we need to be careful using this phrase at times such as the OP is touching.

I say this because my Mom is the only only child left of three...my uncle died of a brain tumor when he was only 10 & my aunt died from breast cancer in her 30's. Many of their very dear friends would quote 'His will' as an attempt to console them?? While I'm sure the intensions were sincere, It was not God's will for Lily or my aunt & uncle to die. He wants us to prosper in every positive aspect of our time here and that includes everything from health to finances to our relationship with Him. My Gramp took these words to heart & held a grudge against God imo for the rest of his life. Called God a cruel sob that it would be His will to take two of his children. I tried to discuss the issue biblically with Gramp, but the damage was too deep.

The Bible says: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

I don't know why some prayers are answered & others aren't. I don't know why good things happen to bad people & bad things happen the most devoted, but I have the satisfaction of knowing when my time comes & I have a lot of questions.

I'm not ragging on you brother with your quote, but felt it was worth discussing further due to it hitting home so very hard & having a lot of time to think about how those words affected Gramp to the very point I still question where his faith was when he died on Christmas Eve at the age of 93.

Again, everything really is about His will, but I do not believe the bad / evil circumstances that we all deal with is anything God wants for our lives...that belongs to the enemy.

And here lies one of my current hurdles. In one breath we say “God is all powerful and in control.” And in the next breath we assign responsibilities of the evils to the enemy. Which is it, because it can’t be both. He is either in control and thus responsible or he isn’t. But this assigning good to God and evil to The Devil drives me nuckin futs and I’m not sure it’s really Biblical.

The whole story of Job is a sick and twisted event if you think about it.

[Artos]

Thanks Gary...again, I do not think it's an applicable or an appropriate response to console from my research in these sort of situations. I've kicked this issue of His will around for a long time because of the personal connection & nobody can convince me it was God's will for Lily to die in this way & not what the Bible teaches us when you research what His will for us is about in our lives. I don't know why the enemy wins sometimes or why prayers are not answered.

My daughter is a Sr. in high school & has suffered from seizures since she was in infant diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis...she started having infantile spasms at 6-7 months. All the pediatric neurologists at the time told us the outcome was dire, should likely prepare ourselves for her to be dead or symptoms of full blown retardation by her teen years. We didn't believe the Dr's & to this day they say she is quite the miracle. Kacie still has seizures & we are still battling for her complete healing we believe will happen. She has her struggles but is on the cheer squad & a happy kid who now wants to go to a Bible College in Colorado. We take it a day at a time. I have not found anything in the Word where God wanted my daughter to have this condition & when someone tells me it's God's will, it comes across as if He indeed 'wanted' this for our family even though I understand that is not their intensions when stating this common saying. All I am suggesting is that telling survivors of those hurting during the immediate fallout that it was God's will can easily be taken very painfully to those hearing it vs the actual act of trying to console. I know personally that it stings, but after researching & praying about it I now understand God's will in it's proper context.

It's the enemy who wants it & I believe it is God's will that He will use this attack by the enemy & take Kacie to place where She will be a mighty woman of God in some capacity in the future.

[Mertzon Man]

God answers all prayers. May not be what we ask for. His plan include changing the hearts and minds of folks through tragedy and miracles unexplained by Doctors and layman.
I have struggled with the “why” bad things happen to good people. I trust it is his will and he is all knowing. He knew the day we were born and they day we will pass from this life.
I have to strengthen my faith through reading his word and praying daily.

[mikerosa]

God will not put anything on your table you cannot handle.

Thank Him in your storms and thank Him in your triumphs.

Book of Revelation speaks of all the prayers prayed as a sweet aroma to God before He exacts His revenge on satan. So your war, is spiritual and you might not see it fulfilled NOW but you will one day !!

Hang tough and keep the faith. Ask Jesus for the strength to perservere thru it all with faith in Him.


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[Artos]

The whole story of Job is a sick and twisted event if you think about it.

It really is a hard read...didn't the devil have to repay job several folds over what he stole??

[SamHarper]

In times like these, reading about poor little Lily, how do we keep the faith?

I can't speak for everybody, but I can speak for myself and what helped me keep the faith about 11 years ago when tragedy hit my family.

I worked out the problem of evil on an intellectual level a long time ago. I studied the problem academically--how do you reconcile the existence of suffering and evil with an all knowing, all powerful, and wholly good God? I looked at a lot of the philosophical literature on the subject and was persuaded that suffering and evil did not invalidate the existence of God.

I majored in history in college and I remember coming to the conclusion one time that history was nothing but one tragedy after another. Horrible things have happened. If nothing that has happened in history invalidates the existence of God, then the existence of God shouldn't invalidated when something bad happens to me either.

It's much easier to think clearly about the issue when you aren't in the middle of suffering. When suffering hits, emotion takes over, and you can't think things through in a logical way.

So when tragedy hit my family, I simply reminded myself of what I previously knew--that evil and suffering are consistent with the existence of God. One does not disprove the other. I leaned on the conclusion I came to when I was more sober-minded.

I've seen a lot of people abandon belief in God (and Christianity in particular) when tragedy hits them, and I always think it's a tragedy that they hadn't worked out the problem of evil beforehand. Surely everybody knows that horrible things happen in the world. If the horrible things that happen in the world didn't disprove God, then God isn't disproven by your personal tragedy either. I think if more people would think about and study the philosophical problem of evil before tragedy hits, it's a lot less likely that they'll be taken off guard when it does, and it's more likely that they'll be able to keep their faith.

[Death from Above]

True healing only takes place when we graduate into glory.

If you prayed for healing...God answered.

[Death from Above]

And here lies one of my current hurdles. In one breath we say “God is all powerful and in control.” And in the next breath we assign responsibilities of the evils to the enemy. Which is it, because it can’t be both. He is either in control and thus responsible or he isn’t. But this assigning good to God and evil to The Devil drives me nuckin futs and I’m not sure it’s really Biblical.

The whole story of Job is a sick and twisted event if you think about it.

It is one of the most biblical doctrines in systematic theology.

God called perfection us running around naked in the garden (contextualized of course )

Sin is the reason for corruption of that, it is why we have death, evil and unrighteousness.

Gods combat against sin is Jesus. The bible specifically that all good things come from above.

We are just in a period between Jesus’ intervention and the fulfillment if time when God declares enough.

Great question to contemplate for sure and i am certain my post doesn't do it justice but i think ya see my direction. Be blessed.

[Hart8]

My little niece battled cancer for 18mos.I wondered the same things you have,when she passed away at the age of 6..The Chaplain for the fire dept.said two things I will never forget.
1)In order to see her again you know what you have to do.
2)Jesus needs little angel's in heaven too.
I dunno if that helps,but it made it a little easier for me to swallow.


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[RattlesnakeDan]

Nehemiah 8:10
The joy of the Lord is my strength.
I have not had a bad day in 13 years.
I have recently felt like Jobe, suffered sickness, lost loved ones, attacks from every side, financial hardships, internal suffering for self and others and shed many tears but I have never considered a God who does not love me, I have never considered a God who doesn't want to prosper me in all ways, i have never considered a God who has bad gifts for me but only good gifts because I have never known this God to ever leave my side through it all. My God has never left me or forsaken me because my God is not a man that He should lie. The Bible tells us that the devil is the ruler of the Earth, that is why there is evil all around us. He gives us a way out, that is the supernatural peace that can only be found in Him. The joy of the Lord is my strength. We praise Him everyday regardless of how we feel.

[Artos]

[Pedernal]

Awesome thread and responses! Thank you all!