Why suffering?
I am not sure if the devotion today was good timing or bad timing. It would be all in how you look at the situation. There are many individuals who throw up there hands and ask many questions and a lot of times; it boils down to this:
Why, in the world is there suffering?
When it hits close to home, it is obviously more personal. I know for myself and my family that we have grappled with this question frequently. There seems to be suffering. however, we know that the suffering by others are far worse than what we are going through.
The "answer" in the devotion is that there is no answer. Well, to be techical it says, rather than having an answer to a question, we have a God that makes us more than conquerors.
There is a sentence in the devotion that I will wrestle with and grapple and here it is:
Often in tragedy our struggle is to let go of what we no longer can have, in order to receive the new good which God has waiting for us.
What do you think of the statement ?
Do you believe that statement to be true ?
Are you currently struggling ?
So, we cling onto Jn 3:16 and go; in spite of what is happening, God loves us and will win for us.
Prayer
Be with me in my deep valleys. Carry me when I falter; they're your footsteps in the sand.
The thoughts and writings on this blog are the thoughts of Jeff and do not necessarily represent the views of Grace First Parish of Russell and/or Lutheran Campus Ministry of Southwest Minnesota State University.
3 comments:
I have no problem with suffering caused by evil human actions as I can rationalise that as the consequence of free will. Suffering caused by the forces of nature, on the other hand.....
"Often in tragedy our struggle is to let go of what we no longer can have, in order to receive the new good which God has waiting for us."
This is a problematic statement for me as well. It implies that God is putting us through tragedy in order to give us something better. I would rather look at it as God can use a tragedy for the better, but I have a hard time believing a loving God would cause suffering in order to do his will.
I don’t believe, as some have suggested, that hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for New Orleans and their stand on gays. That would leave Mississippi, which was hit full on, as just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. God wrecked all these people’s lives to get New Orleans? Come on! No, bad things happen all the time. It doesn’t have to be a natural disaster, it could be cancer, but bad things happen. I think it is our faith that allows us to continue and move on.
DP:
Yes, the consequences of choices and actions following are easier to wrap the hands around.
When we get into the nature aspects; it is very difficult and dicing.
Nator:
I do not think that I like the statement as well. I know that when we don't have "it"; there is something else waiting and it could be a good thing.
HOWEVER, I am not a component of God places the struggle there so you can reach for something better.
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