All day, through the busyness and tending to the needs of others, I was looking forward to coming here and putting down some of my thoughts. Now that I'm here I can't remember what I was going to say. Sad, isn't it?
One thing I know surprised me. Susan found this site! I'm not sure how she did it, since I haven't told anyone I started it, but that's okay. Obviously, nothing on the web is private. But Susan, if you read this, please tell me how you knew I was here! And I hope you had a great weekend!
One thing I know that I've been thinking about a good bit is suffering. How do we explain it in light of a loving God? I understand the arguments for free will and man's ability to choose to do evil. But what about the sadness and suffering that comes as a result of "acts of God"? (And should that quote go inside the question mark or outside it?) Why, if God is loving, do things like cancer and tsunamis devastate lives? Surely they aren't the result of the fallen nature of man or man's free will. So how do I explain them in light of a loving God? I think that many of my reformed friends have no problem with this. After all, if some are destined for destruction anyway, what difference does it make how long they live on this earth? No matter what they encounter in life, they won't believe, they were created for destruction so it's all irrelevant. Suffering in this life is nothing compared to the suffering that lies ahead. But I can't reconcile that to the God of the Bible. I know that He talks about the chosen, but He also talks about the foreigners and the aliens. He also says that hell was created for Satan and the angels that fell with him. He also says that He desires that none perish. So there are seeming contradictions in Scripture. And yet, I know, that somehow they are all in agreement. I'm just struggling with how to reconcile all of them and the reality, or seeming reality, that I see around me. And let me tell you, I haven't reconciled it yet!
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2 comments:
Paula, when you comment on my 365 site and I click on your name, it takes me to the page that shows the link to your 365 site and this site. I think Blogger does that. If you click on my name, it will take you to a similar page showing the links to my 365 site and my regular blog. I am sorry, I didn't realize this was a private blog. I will not spread the word and if you prefer, I won't read it.
The very questions you have are what started me on a journey out of evangelical christianity. From the time I was five I have never believed that God had a destructive nature. Anyway, I know the struggle it can be to ponder these things.
Love you,
Susan
Hey Paula, since you posted this blog site on LampPost I'm hoping it's okay to comment here.
I don't have lots of answers but I know the questions you are grappling with are huge. I have found some understanding and peace by trying to take a step back, and look at it from God's point of view... What was His purpose in creating the world, and creating humans? When I look from "my" point of view it doesn't make sense, but when I think that He has an agenda different than mine, (or ours as humans in general) and try to understand what that might be, it helps me. Maybe is trying to help me (us) learn to depend on Him, or to conform me (us) more closely into the image of His Son... From what I've read, I think eternity will be really long-- and that we'll look back on this time on earth as kind of a blink of an eye... so it's all preparation or training. Maybe.
I hope you don't mind me giving my ideas. I don't like to fight over these ideas, so you don't hear me say much about this in a larger setting... but I do think it depends on the point of view from which we're looking at it...
Glad to have found your blog!
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