Readers have had very interesting comments on my previous post... and I truy enjoyed reading everyone else's perspective on suffering, trials and tragedy. And no one has really ever got a handle on things such as these...neither have I !
The previous post was not so much of a conclusion of the topic but the truth of how '1' unGODly choice could not just steer you away from everything that is good for you but also cause you a great deal of harm.
If you are an Evolunist you may disagree. If you are a Creationist you will understand what I am about to say better.
GOD created man and woman to live in the Garden of Eden and enjoy HIS creation. They were rulers in the garden. They named every living creature and had dominion over everything. And then they got tempted by the devil. He lured them into eating the forbidden fruit. They ate it alright. They disobeyed GOD. And that was the beginning of the end. That was the start of human failure and falling. Since then every child born has potential to fail and fall.
Have you ever failed someone ? Have you been the cause of someone's downfall ?
The Bible says we all have. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of GOD.
And every one of us has been failed by someone and has failed someone. I too have. Knowingly and unknowingly I have caused trouble. I have been the reason someone's heart broke. And I have been the reason someone cried. I have been the reason for loss and damage and disappointment.
And if you are one of the few peoople who hasn't... sit back and wait. And you will be. As hard as we try to live upright and honest lives. We fail and we fail others. We break people's trust and we dash people's hopes.
But thats not the tragedy. The tragedy is the vicious cycle - the trap of following one wrong move with another and another and another...
I have had the privilege of meeting with inmates and speaking with them about their crime.While a few criminals are flint faced and happy to be like that, most people in the cell live regret filled unhappy lives. They are unhappy and regret the choice they made. Some having committed gruesome murders hate themselves for doing that. They call it 'a moment of madness'. So often I have been a part of such moments of madness. I mean seriously. Anything could have happened. Anything. I could have been in the jailhouse. But thank GOD I am here. Free.
Tragedies. All our lives will have one of these. The tragic death of a loved one, the tragic loss at stocks, the tragic end of a marriage, the tragic heart break, the tragic rape, the tragic violation, the tragic job loss, the tragic disease that hit you, the tragic theft, the tragic miscarriage... etc...
This is a hard truth to swallow... JESUS never promised a life without tragedies... HE promised to stick with us and take us through it. HE didnt say you would never have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But HE said when we do we needn't be afraid because HE will be right besides us. HE will comfort us and the waters wont drown us the fire wont burn us.
Why did the 2 year old girl get gang rapped by 5 pervert men ?
- Because they were sick pervert men.
What was the 2 year old's fault ?
- No fault of hers.
Then how do you process this ?
- Faith
Faith is knowing that GOD is at work even when I dont see anything.
Joseph had tragedy after tragedy hit him. From being a prince to being in the pit and being sold off as a slave by his own brothers then being falsely accused and then being a prisoner. It seemed like GOD wasnt around. It seemed like GOD had forgotten him and left him to himself. And yet the Bible says "the LORD was with Joseph". GOD allowed these tragedies to hit him and Joseph trusted his GOD.
Jacob, Joseph's father, was in the meanwhile battling his own tragedy. The tragic death of his favorite son - Joseph (his brother's lied to their father after selling Joseph off as a slave). While GOD was using Joseph in Egypt to be Israel's salvation, Jacob was depressed, imagining, and entertaining the devil's projection's, wallowing in self pity "All things are against me !!!"
And when the story closes in, we see what GOD was really upto. How GOD alone could use 2 tragedies to be the salvation of an entire nation ! What if Joseph decided to turn bitter ? What if Joseph stopped trusting GOD ? What if Joseph used his tragedy as an excuse to walk away ? What if Joseph decided to vindicate himself instead of waiting on GOD ? What if Joseph made unGODly choices in Potiphar's house just because he was sold into slavery ? And then what if Joseph made unGODly choices in the prison because he was falsely accused ? And what if Joseph refused to operate in his gifting and interpret Pharaoh's cupbearer's and the baker's dreams ?
In reality tragedies are not partial to good people alone. But both the good and bad face tragedies. And bad things keep happening when we make unGODly choices. And get caught up in a web we cant get out of.
But if we do wait on GOD, we will discover HE judges in righteousness ! The guilty always pay. The righteous are always rewarded.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that the tragedy that was meant to cause destruction was actually GOD's salvation for Israel like in the case of Joseph.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that the tragedy that was meant to test us and prove our faith was used by GOD to double our portion like in the case of Job.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that the tragedy that was meant to demote us was actually GOD's school of training the greatest leader who ever lived like in the case of David.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that the tragedy meant to leave us poor and lonely and widowed was GOD preparing the setting for a beautiful marriage like in the case of Ruth.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that the tragedy meant to leave us old, single and hurting was GOD planning the beautiful and romantic story of 'the Biblical marriage' like in the case of Isaac.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that all these things that dont make any sense today will be used together for the good of those who love GOD and who are called to have a purpose in HIS kingdom.
The previous post was not so much of a conclusion of the topic but the truth of how '1' unGODly choice could not just steer you away from everything that is good for you but also cause you a great deal of harm.
If you are an Evolunist you may disagree. If you are a Creationist you will understand what I am about to say better.
GOD created man and woman to live in the Garden of Eden and enjoy HIS creation. They were rulers in the garden. They named every living creature and had dominion over everything. And then they got tempted by the devil. He lured them into eating the forbidden fruit. They ate it alright. They disobeyed GOD. And that was the beginning of the end. That was the start of human failure and falling. Since then every child born has potential to fail and fall.
Have you ever failed someone ? Have you been the cause of someone's downfall ?
The Bible says we all have. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of GOD.
And every one of us has been failed by someone and has failed someone. I too have. Knowingly and unknowingly I have caused trouble. I have been the reason someone's heart broke. And I have been the reason someone cried. I have been the reason for loss and damage and disappointment.
And if you are one of the few peoople who hasn't... sit back and wait. And you will be. As hard as we try to live upright and honest lives. We fail and we fail others. We break people's trust and we dash people's hopes.
But thats not the tragedy. The tragedy is the vicious cycle - the trap of following one wrong move with another and another and another...
I have had the privilege of meeting with inmates and speaking with them about their crime.While a few criminals are flint faced and happy to be like that, most people in the cell live regret filled unhappy lives. They are unhappy and regret the choice they made. Some having committed gruesome murders hate themselves for doing that. They call it 'a moment of madness'. So often I have been a part of such moments of madness. I mean seriously. Anything could have happened. Anything. I could have been in the jailhouse. But thank GOD I am here. Free.
Tragedies. All our lives will have one of these. The tragic death of a loved one, the tragic loss at stocks, the tragic end of a marriage, the tragic heart break, the tragic rape, the tragic violation, the tragic job loss, the tragic disease that hit you, the tragic theft, the tragic miscarriage... etc...
This is a hard truth to swallow... JESUS never promised a life without tragedies... HE promised to stick with us and take us through it. HE didnt say you would never have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But HE said when we do we needn't be afraid because HE will be right besides us. HE will comfort us and the waters wont drown us the fire wont burn us.
Why did the 2 year old girl get gang rapped by 5 pervert men ?
- Because they were sick pervert men.
What was the 2 year old's fault ?
- No fault of hers.
Then how do you process this ?
- Faith
Faith is knowing that GOD is at work even when I dont see anything.
Joseph had tragedy after tragedy hit him. From being a prince to being in the pit and being sold off as a slave by his own brothers then being falsely accused and then being a prisoner. It seemed like GOD wasnt around. It seemed like GOD had forgotten him and left him to himself. And yet the Bible says "the LORD was with Joseph". GOD allowed these tragedies to hit him and Joseph trusted his GOD.
Jacob, Joseph's father, was in the meanwhile battling his own tragedy. The tragic death of his favorite son - Joseph (his brother's lied to their father after selling Joseph off as a slave). While GOD was using Joseph in Egypt to be Israel's salvation, Jacob was depressed, imagining, and entertaining the devil's projection's, wallowing in self pity "All things are against me !!!"
And when the story closes in, we see what GOD was really upto. How GOD alone could use 2 tragedies to be the salvation of an entire nation ! What if Joseph decided to turn bitter ? What if Joseph stopped trusting GOD ? What if Joseph used his tragedy as an excuse to walk away ? What if Joseph decided to vindicate himself instead of waiting on GOD ? What if Joseph made unGODly choices in Potiphar's house just because he was sold into slavery ? And then what if Joseph made unGODly choices in the prison because he was falsely accused ? And what if Joseph refused to operate in his gifting and interpret Pharaoh's cupbearer's and the baker's dreams ?
In reality tragedies are not partial to good people alone. But both the good and bad face tragedies. And bad things keep happening when we make unGODly choices. And get caught up in a web we cant get out of.
But if we do wait on GOD, we will discover HE judges in righteousness ! The guilty always pay. The righteous are always rewarded.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that the tragedy that was meant to cause destruction was actually GOD's salvation for Israel like in the case of Joseph.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that the tragedy that was meant to test us and prove our faith was used by GOD to double our portion like in the case of Job.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that the tragedy that was meant to demote us was actually GOD's school of training the greatest leader who ever lived like in the case of David.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that the tragedy meant to leave us poor and lonely and widowed was GOD preparing the setting for a beautiful marriage like in the case of Ruth.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that the tragedy meant to leave us old, single and hurting was GOD planning the beautiful and romantic story of 'the Biblical marriage' like in the case of Isaac.
And if we do wait long enough, we also discover that all these things that dont make any sense today will be used together for the good of those who love GOD and who are called to have a purpose in HIS kingdom.
