(no subject)

[olde_fashioned]

I get emails every day, including one of BibleGateway's "Verse of the Day" subscriptions. Today's was some interesting food for thought that I couldn't put out of my mind, so I'm posting it here.

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. - Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV)

We are all guilty of wondering, and even questioning why God allows certain things to happen. Why do bad things happen? In a word, because of sin. But God is supposed to protect us from these things, right? Why would He let people die, evil seemingly prevail, babies be murdered by their own mothers simply because they exist? Why does a professedly loving God allow war, famine, sickness, misery, abuse, torture, death? We, in all our profound wisdom, pass judgement on what we cannot see or even hope to understand, because it flies in the face of our earthly "wisdom".

I certainly don't have all the answers, but I do believe that all these things are not God's fault. He is faultless, blameless, perfect, or else He is not God, there is no salvation, no heaven, no Jesus dying for our sins, and we are in serious trouble. We are fallen, finite, and sinful beings. Evil exists on this earth because we let it. Every day we do something we know we should not do, myself included. And if we are not capable of preventing ourselves from committing something as simple as a "white lie", then who are we to judge the God on His standards?

If you're reading this and any of what I said touched a nerve, or intrigued you, then I would strongly advise you read Ken Ham's book How Could A Loving God...?, which answers the above questions and more significantly better than I could ever hope to.

Also, please remember my journal is not the place for your personal railings against my God. Respectful conversation is always welcome; vitriol is not.

Comments

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

I think we complicate things, if anything. I simply believe that God wanted us to truly learn to appreciate Creation. If we didn't have endings, sadness, famine, murder, hurt, pain, and millions of other ills, how could we possibly appreciate the start of something new, happiness, plenty, life, love, and all the rest? You can't understand the joy of Spring if you've never survived a Winter. It's because of evil that we can truly love the good.

[greeneyedmissy.livejournal.com]

You can't understand the joy of Spring if you've never survived a Winter.

That's so amazingly said. And so true.

[motionofmercy.livejournal.com]

It's because of evil that we can truly love the good.

So painfully true.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

You can't understand the joy of Spring if you've never survived a Winter.

That's very profound. It reminds me of a quote I took away from a (very bad) adaptation of Jane Eyre when discussing contrast; the darkness is just as important as the light (because without the former, we wouldn't be able to see the latter).