Christians ask God for all kinds of things, and as Scripture tells us, if you don’t ask, you won’t receive. It would be nice to believe that God wants us to always be healthy, wealthy, and happy, but the evidence is that such things are not high on His list of priorities.
We see Christians suffering from the same illnesses, tragedies, and disappointments as non-Christians, and it doesn’t seem due to sin, lack of faith, or lack of prayer. Why is this? As I type this, my 90-year-old mother is slowly dying. She is suffering and getting little pleasure from life. Why doesn’t God take her home now? Why is it so hard for a young father to answer his child’s question, "Daddy, why did Mommy have to die?"
God’s original creation was "very good," but sin brought degradation to everything. All of God’s creatures, not just those who have rejected God, suffer from the effects that sin had on our world. This is the source of all the unpleasantness that we experience and see around us.
The Bible has many records of healings, resurrections, and the amassing of personal wealth, but when seen in the light of all of human experience, these occasions seem to be exceptional, rather than the norm. What is responsible for these rare interventions into the workings of a sin-damaged creation?
The miracles of Christ seem to have been aimed, not at human comfort, but at the establishment of his position as Messiah, Son of God. He didn’t raise everyone who died, he didn’t heal every sick person he saw, and he didn’t feed every hungry person in the world.
All of this seems to indicate a general principle of nonintervention: God does not intervene in natural events unless there is a spiritual victory to be won. He decides, based on His wisdom and goals, whether the victory is worth the intervention.
Looks like I can leave responses ok now.
I think the principle of non-intervention is a good one. Sometimes people expect God to intervene to keep something unpleasant from happening. I have a relative who is doing that now. It is hard to know how to respond to her.
May God support you and your mother as she slowly dies.
Jim
There seems to be some misunderstanding here. Consider this: God is intimately involved at all times in every detail of creation. This is what he says: He feeds every creature and every person. (Psalms 104,145) He takes care of orphans and widows (Psalms 146) Not one sparrow falls to ground apart from His will and even the hairs on your head are numbered (Matthew 10, Luke 12). There are many other examples for God intervenes for our good in all things (Romans 8:28). Even when people intend actions to be evil (selling Joseph into slavery) God INTENDS those actions for good, not merely permits them.(Genesis 50:20)
I know its a very hard thing, but I have learned to see with eyes of faith the good God is working in what might seem like horrible situations. I can’t always see it, but I trust the one who knows all things. And I try to remember what Jesus teachs through the apostle Paul that our present suffering are not even comparable to the glory that will result (Romans 8:18) For Jesus will raise everyone from the dead, He will feed all who are hungry, He will heal all the sick, and wipe away every tear. He says that the former things will not even be remembered. Isaiah (65:17)I look forward to that day.
I think I have a new example of this policy. Yesterday I had an accident that totaled my pickup, completely smashing in the front end. My truck is lost, but my life was saved. So it might be that God intervened to keep me alive for continued service for Him, but He didn’t shield me from the loss of a useful vehicle, plus ending up with a very painful knee and chest.
I know that no one wants to face the fact that he is not trusting God fully, but I fear this is the case for all of us. When bad things happen, it is for unknown reasons. That does not mean it is for NO reason. Trusting God means that we accept that there is a reason we do not comprehend. If we have to have a reason before we will trust, we are not trusting. It is just the human condition that we refuse to trust God. If we are given healing or health, it is by the grace of God,, because we deserve to be destroyed for our infinite disobedience. I guess this is not very comforting, so I might say that our suffering is the building material that God uses to build the new heaven and new earth, in my opinion.
Today’s NLT devotional had a relevant scripture:
“Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”
John 9:2-3, NLT
So we see that God even causes “bad” things to happen to people when they will promote the Kingdom.