Replies

I always thought that God is interested in what is in our hearts, not the details of our deaths or our longevity, God knew those children, he knew the shooter, he knows the parents, and brothers and sisters, and aunts, and best friends of the kids, he knows us on this thread, it is all part of the human experience.

If my child dies of cancer, it doesn’t bother God, he welcomes her home, but he is interested in how she dealt with it, how I dealt with it, how the doctors, the nurses, the guy that made her wig, the guy in the bar that I spilled my guts to, all of us individual humans dealt with it, and with all of the rest of life and their losses and wins, or whether they should even use words like “losses and wins” when talking about life.

This earthly period is when God lets us, nature, rattlesnakes and hurricanes, and car accidents and earthly existence carry on, as he pays attention to what is in our hearts as things happen, and influence us, and how life shapes us.

I have never understood these questions about ‘where is God’, ‘why am I dying’, ‘why is my child dying of bone cancer’, ‘why did God let this steering column go through my chest’, or ‘God blessed me with winning the 20 million dollar lottery’, ‘Oh, looky, God let that rock fall just seconds before I walked over there’, I just don’t think that he gets involved in such things to a degree that we need to incorporate it into our thinking, start miracle score keeping, and miracle talking. I think the things that God finds important, are different (naturally) than many of the things that we find important.

We all suffer, but without suffering, we may as well be rocks carved with prayerful hands.
How many times have we heard the cliche, “God let my wife and child die, I don’t believe in him anymore”, what the heck is that about? The wife, the child, you, all have your own individual relationship with God, and it is the afterlife that is all important.

This is a tragedy to we humans (God already has the children, they and he are doing just fine), but it isn’t God’s doing, or lack of doing.

I wished that I knew more about theology, because I think that this is Christianity 101 and I don’t understand how the media, or the left, and even many Christians think that God created a rock garden of worshipful Christian sculptures who never become rough and ugly, and who don’t live on our own domain, or in our own existence.

We suffer because we live in a broken world that we ourselves created. We ignore God. We do everything we can against His commandments that are meant to give us a good life. We boo God in public and agree with those who relish in practicing evil. We pass laws that are against the moral values of God. And when OUR evil lends itself to this sort of thing, then we complain, "Where is God?" We laugh at those who believe and say, "See, this proves that there is no God otherwise He would never have allowed this." This is mockery of God.

Meanwhile, God is constantly working in all things-even events like this-to help us come to Him. He wants to comfort and heal us, trying to draw us back to Him. May God use this opportunity to help people understand our brokeness so that we may repent and turn to Christ to be healed.

I agree. I have been raised to believe, and have parents who pray, that prayer results in answers. Then they add on that...”but only if it’s in God’s will”...or “But you may not like the answer.” Well I have told my mother that I don’t believe in “prayer.” I do talk to God. And I do request things. I think He does want our fellowship, to know what’s in our hearts, in other words, to commune with us in spirit. But I think we are basically on our own. For the most part. God IS powerful and if He so chooses can intervene however he likes...but in this earth age, this age of grace/faith...I believe perhaps he is letting things play out as they will.