This past weekend I've been dealing with alot of big questions concerning violence and injustice in the world. As a Christian, it's hard at times to see these things happening and not ask God "Why?"
After going over the study of El Roi-the God who sees- with my bible study teacher I came across an answer that I had over looked previously.
Kay Arthur asks " How can any abused person, any person used for another's pervereted pleasure, ever be whole? Wheter the abuse is sexual, mental, or physical, can there be healing? Yes, healing has to be possible. Otherwise, a sovereign God of love would surely have intervened."
I had to re-read the last sentence several times to understand. God did not intervene at the time because "as horrible and as destructive as it seems, in God's economy, it will be used for good."
Kay Arthur paraphrases 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10
"God saw it. He knows the sin that was committed against you. And someday He will vindicate you. There is forgiveness, but to those who refuse to receive the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world there is also a day of judgment. And it will be a righteous judgment, for God saw it all."
With all this in mind I was asked what I thought about all this we had just read. It took me a minute to think while many thoughts and emotions and memories of my own hurts ran through my mind. And the only thing that I could think of was if God sees the WHOLE picture and I can't, I have to trust Him. Also if His thoughts towards me are thoughts of peace and not evil, to give me a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11), then He's not trying to cause me harm. And lastly, Romans 8:28 says: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
SOOOO I guess God knows what He's doing...
I have in past posts blogged about our eldest daughter being in the hospital due to severe eczema issues, and how we had no inusurance for the 3 days in the children's hospital. We have been trying for nearly a year to get insurance with rejections everytime we applied or refusal to cover the health issues we needed to go to the doctor for. We finally found one that would work and needed $900 to start and they would cover pre-existing issues within 3 months. So we thought to ourselves "where do we get $900 from?" Well within a few days a check comes in the mail for...you guessed it: $900! Now I say all this not to say that the money answered our problems but to say that if God had intervened back before we had all of those terrifying experiences with our daughter's health I don't think we would have developed the relationship with God that we have now. We were FORCED to lean on Him during that time of uncertainty. Hubby and I have developed more trust for the Lord as well as learned to hold each other up when either one of us were down. I don't rejoice over the $900 but the priceless gift God gave to us by letting us hurt for a little bit. Our daughter is doing well and our family is closer than ever. This provision is one I am SO grateful for but it's confirmation that He was in control the WHOLE time. And one day we will look back at all of the sorrow we see and know that He was "holding it down" the WHOLE time.
God Bless!
I have updated my previous blog. I have removed references to the boo 23 minutes in hell. I did this after I realized that the author took many of the scriptures out of context and I didn't feel comfortable quoting a book that did that. I want to do my best to properly represent the Christian faith. Please pray for me. No matter what you read you should ALWAYS go back into the scriptures and test what is said for yourself with the Word of God for yourself. You can re-read it if you want at creative mother.
Please leave your comment at Creative mother.
