Ah yes, musings about the nature of God. This is the kind of thing that gets sticky sometimes, so I just want to say right here, I don’t profess to know the true nature or mind of God. Everything I write in this piece is speculation, both my own and others at points where I agree with them or think they may be on to something. I’m writing this because it’s fun to speculate about what we don’t know, and also because I hope it might help some people on their own path. Obviously, I think there’s some truth to what I’m saying, or I wouldn’t write it, but I know that I could be wrong. Now, with that out of the way, let’s begin.
It’s quite often that I hear people who have fallen on hard times begin to blame God, or perhaps lose faith in God since a loving God would never let this happen to them. Sometimes, I don’t feel like they fully think through why it might not be God’s fault in the first place. Of course, I can’t say I blame them either, since it tends to be people who’ve fallen on hard times in some fashion. By nature, they’re simply going to be more fixated on their current problem or problems than a bigger picture. However, I think that blaming God or losing faith in God due to falling on hard times isn’t the appropriate response either. This is, of course, deeply personal though, so this shouldn’t be construed as saying it’s wrong to change your beliefs, nor is it intended to say it’s wrong not to believe for any reason. Nor is it intended to claim that belief is the proper path. Rather, it’s intended to convey my reasons for continuing belief, through good times and bad, and to possibly provide another perspective to those who may be considering abandoning their faith or those who have already done so due to hardship. In the end, the choice is still theirs.
My first point is that God promised humanity free will. This means that all people have agency to make their own choices, and God will not interfere with that agency, even though he has the power to do so. This means, should a person wish to inflict harm on another, the person has agency to do so, and the victim has agency to respond in a way they believe appropriate. In a more general sense, God is not responsible for anything that happens to you due to the actions of another human. If your girlfriend breaks up with you, someone robs you of all your money, or frames you for a crime, God didn’t do it, the person who made the decision did it. Now, obviously, I’m not trying to say you wouldn’t feel pain of some kind over one or all of those losses, I’m just saying it doesn’t make a lot of sense to deflect blame to God on this point. Unless you believe in predestination, but I don’t know many religious or spiritual people these days who do believe that. For those who do, very little of this post will likely apply.
Now, I’m sure there are some who are wondering how natural occurrences and coincidences factor in. When natural disasters hit, a tree branch falls and wrecks your car, and so on. Assuming no human tampering (that would fall under free will) , there are a couple ways to look at this while acknowledging the existence of a loving God. The first would be to consider that perhaps God simply doesn’t alter things, even when the laws of physics would allow him to do so unnoticed. In this scenario, it’s simply a matter of God letting the world work as it does. He did create it to work remarkably well and consistently after all.
Another way to look at this, though, is that God could be providing you with these setbacks as challenges to encourage you to grow. In my family, I was raised to believe that God would never provide me with a challenge I can’t overcome, and that this applies to all people. This is a belief I carry to this day, because so far it has been true (and I’ve had some tough challenges in my life, though not the type I wish to share publicly). Of course, I admit that belief could be what has helped me overcome some of those challenges, but it still seems to be true and is an idea I stand by.
A third option would be the combination of the two, in which challenges arise from your circumstances, and God will make sure you have the strength to deal with them as they come up. This is more specifically how I look at it, because I think it a rare occurrence for God to intercede in the physical world. If it weren’t rare (and subtle) then we’d have likely noticed by now.
So, if you accept my premises, then we have a God who loves us and trusts us enough to let us make our own choices. But he also allows bad things to happen due to those choices, since otherwise he’d be taking the gift of free will away from us. So, was this a foolish thing for an all-powerful, all-knowing being to do? I don’t think so. We’ll grow and learn a lot more from the struggles that we face, and while it may be painful sometimes, we’ll come out better for it in the end.
Of course, if you’re in pain now, that isn’t likely what you want to hear. So, what recourse has God left for those who have fallen on hard times? There are a couple things. First, you can work to better your circumstances. While the work may be difficult, it will get you where you’re going. It’s never fun to deal with the painful experiences we have, but it does make the good ones feel a lot better when we get to them.
The other thing you can do is ask God for help. This doesn’t mean that you’ll magically have the money you need, or an old friend will just decide to drop his grudge with you and be friends again. That would violate the laws of reality and the promise of free will that God has already set up. But, he will help you by giving you or helping you to find the strength you need to face your challenges, and the will you need to get the job done. Perhaps some inspiration to start moving in a good direction. In short, he will provide help in preparing you for getting through whatever challenges have come your way, but they won’t just disappear.
Perhaps this will help some people look at this matter in a different light. That doesn’t mean this will be a satisfying explanation to everyone, but it covers a fair bit of my thoughts on the matter. Recognize that God isn’t responsible for the actions of everyone you come across (unless you count his creating us and giving us free will as making him responsible, but that isn’t really constructive). Instead, recognize the cause of your pain in this world, be it person or event, and do what you can to resolve the issue or move on with your life, whichever you feel is the better path for you. And perhaps ask God for a helping hand in doing so.
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