A lot of tragedies happen in life. Whether they hit our personal lives, or the world, we feel it hard every time. Never gets easier. Some are harder to really understand and really feel the whole weight of them, but we feel them nonetheless. We feel for the people directly affected by them, we feel for our loved ones, we feel for us. Until a few years ago, that was a huge struggle in my faith. If God loves his people, why does he make this bad stuff happen? Is God really destroying the world out of anger? What have we done wrong? Why is He doing this awful stuff to us?
The most striking verse in the Gospels, for me, is in Mark 15:34 "My god, my god! Why hast thou forsaken me?" He cries out to the Lord. He. As in Jesus. As in the messiah that has been professing God's will of love and acceptance and charity. Jesus who has had the closest relationship to God. Who is God on Earth. He cries out in total anguish and he takes a moment before he dies to ask why God has abandoned him. There is some huge weight in that. Huge.
That's something I think we've all felt at least once in our lives. There are people today wondering why God has left us. Or, if He hasn't, why He is letting the awful stuff that is happening happen.
You guys are right. Those awful situations happening every second of every day are happening and continue to happen. And it is atrocious. However, I can't bring myself to believe God has left or that God has let or made those things happen.
Something that blew my mind a couple of years ago is something my pastors here brought up: everything doesn't "happen for a reason." We hear that often from Christians who are trying to understand the awful stuff happening. As if God is teaching us a lesson with them or has a plan and that's why it happens. Don't get me wrong, I think He has a plan, I just think there are interruptions.
People interrupt God's plans constantly. What with free will, we often go astray. People do things they think is right and good at the time. Whether it is exterminating an entire race because of how they "ruined a country" or selling a race into slavery because of the Biblical tradition, a lot of bad has come from the world that I tend to think wasn't part of God's plan. But he has brought things out of awful situations.
Am I glorifying tragedies? Absolutely not. Ever. Tragedies are exactly that: tragic. I would never, ever wish any tragic event on anyone or anything. What I'm saying is that God has a plan for the World and when it is interrupted by a tragedy, He mourns with us. When we pick ourselves back up, He encourages us. When we find His path once again, we tend to find ourselves closer to Him and we celebrates with us. He makes beauty and encouragement out of the tragedies in our past. He wants only the best for us. Therefore, when tragedy strikes us, He does His best to build us back up. To make us whole again, and then some. God does have a plan for you, but the hiccups, I believe, are not from a spiteful God. But He does do everything He can to make it better.
Our God is a loving God. Sometimes we have a hard time hearing Him, and other times logistics, like other people, get in the way of His voice. But He is there, walking with all of us. Cheering us on. Mourning with the mournful, celebrating with the goodness of people, and looking for the lost, and encouraging all. When you ask "why me?" know that that's not an uncommon question. Even Jesus had a moment when He felt our God abandoning Him, but He was there, crying out. I believe in you. God believes in you. Let's lift each other up.
The most striking verse in the Gospels, for me, is in Mark 15:34 "My god, my god! Why hast thou forsaken me?" He cries out to the Lord. He. As in Jesus. As in the messiah that has been professing God's will of love and acceptance and charity. Jesus who has had the closest relationship to God. Who is God on Earth. He cries out in total anguish and he takes a moment before he dies to ask why God has abandoned him. There is some huge weight in that. Huge.
That's something I think we've all felt at least once in our lives. There are people today wondering why God has left us. Or, if He hasn't, why He is letting the awful stuff that is happening happen.
You guys are right. Those awful situations happening every second of every day are happening and continue to happen. And it is atrocious. However, I can't bring myself to believe God has left or that God has let or made those things happen.
Something that blew my mind a couple of years ago is something my pastors here brought up: everything doesn't "happen for a reason." We hear that often from Christians who are trying to understand the awful stuff happening. As if God is teaching us a lesson with them or has a plan and that's why it happens. Don't get me wrong, I think He has a plan, I just think there are interruptions.
People interrupt God's plans constantly. What with free will, we often go astray. People do things they think is right and good at the time. Whether it is exterminating an entire race because of how they "ruined a country" or selling a race into slavery because of the Biblical tradition, a lot of bad has come from the world that I tend to think wasn't part of God's plan. But he has brought things out of awful situations.
Am I glorifying tragedies? Absolutely not. Ever. Tragedies are exactly that: tragic. I would never, ever wish any tragic event on anyone or anything. What I'm saying is that God has a plan for the World and when it is interrupted by a tragedy, He mourns with us. When we pick ourselves back up, He encourages us. When we find His path once again, we tend to find ourselves closer to Him and we celebrates with us. He makes beauty and encouragement out of the tragedies in our past. He wants only the best for us. Therefore, when tragedy strikes us, He does His best to build us back up. To make us whole again, and then some. God does have a plan for you, but the hiccups, I believe, are not from a spiteful God. But He does do everything He can to make it better.
Our God is a loving God. Sometimes we have a hard time hearing Him, and other times logistics, like other people, get in the way of His voice. But He is there, walking with all of us. Cheering us on. Mourning with the mournful, celebrating with the goodness of people, and looking for the lost, and encouraging all. When you ask "why me?" know that that's not an uncommon question. Even Jesus had a moment when He felt our God abandoning Him, but He was there, crying out. I believe in you. God believes in you. Let's lift each other up.
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