Friday, 18 May 2012
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"He Allows Too Much Bad": God and His Plan
I just saw a blog over at Revelife. The post asks, "Do you believe God is hands-off or a puppeteer?" I answered, "Neither. I have seen Him miraculously intervene too many times to think He is "Hands off". And I have seen Him not too many times to think He is "a puppeteer". I don't see why such a complex question should have only two possible answers either. This is how I feel about it." And then I linked them here. This is something I have heard and thought about deeply. I think it comes back to love. (It is my strong opinion that a lot of people today have no idea what real love is or is all about, but to avoid getting diverted to that topic, let me just say real love always wants what is best for it's object, and is never forced.) So, if God loves us, He could not create us as little robots who have no conception of doing anything other than His Will. Without the freedom to choose for ourselves, it would be the same as brainwashing, or locking us in a cage. I can't conceive of how that would be honest or loving. It certainly wouldn't be genuine. And all that is completely against the nature of God.
Second, you have the question of suffering. There is no other way for us to have free will though, without having the suffering of the innocent. Some will suffer at the hands of those who choose to use their free will to that end. And some will suffer due to the imperfection that came along with the fall from grace. I would like to point out here, that suffering usually makes people stronger. People who grow up with no suffering, and given everything they want right when they want it seem to end up the most troubled and unhappy adults. So you will have a hard time convincing me that God needs to disallow the suffering that goes on because then we all would be spoiled little brats with no appreciation. Also, Jesus suffered plenty Himself when He that never knew what the filth of sin felt like, took on the sins of anyone who would ever be born from Adam and Eve to the future of people who have yet to be born - all at once. And that after suffering the physical pain of the whipping post and cross. Everyone has their own cross to bear.
Thirdly, God does know every single possible scenario and outcome. And I most certainly do believe He has a plan for all of us, only we have to surrender to Him to see it happen. He gave us free will, so the power to ruin those plans is in our hands, if we reject Him and His ways. The good news is, God really can turn your mourning into dancing, if you just let Him. But, I digress. There are times when, because He can see every scenario possible, He does choose to intervene and miraculously change things.
I have never believed that when He chooses not to though, that it is due to a lack of faith on anyone's part. Sometimes Dad just says "No." And, there is no doubt He has His reasons. But, that does not mean that it was originally "His Will" for that suffering to happen. Remember, it was "His Will" for us to remain perfect in the Garden of Eden. But where we are now, there are so many factors to be taken in about what would happen if He intervened. If you've ever watched It's A Wonderful Life, you can get an idea of how many lives we touch and influance, and the ripple affect that has on other lives. And, not being able to see every possible scenario for the decades to come, we really aren't in a position to ever say God was wrong to choose not to intervene. Realizing this makes the element of faith not quite so hard for me.
Also, sometimes what we might think would be a good thing turns out to be a very bad thing, sometimes even the worse thing we could think of. Sometimes I think of it like this, for God, not intervening may have been making a choice of the lesser of two evils. Since I can't see every possible scenario, I don't know how much it would change things. But, I can see many other instances to tell His nature, and by what I can see, I know it is not in His nature to cause suffering to the innocent. By this I can trust that when He does not intervene, it must be part of His plan.
Do you think God has a unique and specific plan for you? Do you think he knows what is going to happen next? Do you think he intervenes sometimes and not other times? How do you define what God's plan for your life is?
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- From: mtngirlsouth@xanga
- Name: Samantha
- About Me: Learning, growing, settling in my beliefs. Love to learn new things. Becoming less and less concerned with what others think of me. My faith is the Cornerstone of my beliefs, and I will not sway on that.
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Comments (103)
@TiredSoVeryTired@xanga - I'm not sure what you mean by the "two sins" Jesus spoke about. He actually laid out all possible sin, that goes beyond merely following the Ten Commandments. It goes into the heart, and thoughts.
This is taken from the Semon on the Mount, one of Jesus' most famous monologues in the Bible:
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“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire...
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell...
“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil...
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward...
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And, if the new testament verses I offered before are any indication, all men are in need of grace.
It is not my opinion; it is what God says. You can chose whether or not to view yourself as you want to view yourself, or as God views you. If you see that you are in need of grace, then you can be forgiven. But that we all have sinned is not in question, or a matter of personal opinion, if you are going by the Bible.
..There is hope. Jesus was trying to shake up the Pharisees who thought that "just because they followed the Ten Commandments" as they saw fit, they thought they never sinned. But Jesus was trying to show them that we have all sinned, whether by thought or deed, and all need forgiveness. If the only way we can live with God is to be "perfect as my Father is perfect", than we all fall short.
@Jenny_Wren@xanga - The two commandments Jesus gave, not two sins- Love they neighbor and love God.
Actually, I think Jesus was simply expanding and further explaining the Then Commandments here. I don't think Jesus was giving specific examples, but rather showing ways to think more about the commandments. Calling your neighbor a food, is bearing false witness or not loving your neighbor, it's also like lying perhaps. Also, Jesus taught in parables and stories and such, they are subject to interpretation.
I actually know plenty of people who would follow the above examples. Jesus was giving a pep talk, we all sin so don't dwell so much on your sins as you should try harder the next time. It's like when you have a class full of students and 20 are being loud and 5 are quietly doing work, but they all get yelled at for making noise. Everyone has to hear the "be quiet" speech, although some were indeed quiet.
@AmyDoo@xanga - "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself
into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what
they say will happen, it will be done for them." -Mark 11:23
You have to admit it's a little misleading and confusing - my questions is why doesn't God do a better job of revealing his will to us and why his will not necessarily equally fair to everyone. If it was, the world would be a MUCH better place. Some people probably hate his will, but the obvious question is why doesn't he give them what they truly deserve. In my opinion, God is just as much of a slacker as any of us. Keeping of with real life and his will can be a chore and ridiculously demanding. Just seems like it could be A LOT easier.