Sunday Thoughts

We didn't get to go to church today, because Ben's mom and brother were in a car accident and we needed to help them out. Apparently their car was completely totaled, beyond repair. But the two of them walked away from it almost completely unhurt. Daniel (Ben's brother) has lacerations, but as far as I've heard, that's it.

It's a miracle that neither of them was seriously injured or killed.

A lot of people don't believe in miracles anymore, and this boggles my mind. Miracles happen every day. Maybe the fact that they DO happen has made people desensitized to them. But that just seems silly to me. There are lots of people out there who say "Look at the world around you. With all the pain, hate, and evil, how can you believe that there's a God?" I say, "Look at the world around you. With all the love, beauty and miracles that you see every day, how can you believe there ISN'T a God?"

People are so quick to judge God. They say, "If there was a God, He wouldn't let bad things happen." But then, if something wonderful happens (a miracle), their response is, "Well that was good luck!"

Seriously, give credit where credit is due. Bad things happen because bad people exist. They make bad choices, and do bad things that negatively effect other people. God is not to blame for these people's choices. They are free to do good or evil, just as all of us are.

Sometimes bad things happen that aren't caused by bad people. Storms destroy homes, fires consume lives, things fall and crush people... sometimes tragedy strikes, and there's no one to blame. So people blame God. This, I can understand a little better, but it still seems foolish to me. Yes, God could prevent ALL tragedies if He wanted to. But that's not how He works. He allows us to suffer so that we have the opportunity to grow. If He protected us from every bad thing, we would never learn anything. We would never become better, stronger people. And we would never show our true colors if we weren't tested. When bad things happen, rather than place blame and curse God, maybe people should try asking themselves, "How can I turn this into a positive?"

I'm not saying that we should be constantly happy. Mourning and sadness have an important role in our lives. They can strengthen us as well. And, if we never knew sorrow, we could never truly know happiness. It's a good thing, to mourn things. But it's not a good thing to hold on to that pain and make it central to your life. Do your mourning, be sad for awhile, then move on. Grow. Learn from what happened, and be supportive of those around you who are also going through hard times.

The thing is, the kinds of people who curse God for their troubles are the kinds of people who don't see God as the loving Father that He is. They don't realize that, when they're suffering, He is feeling their pain. He understands their sorrow, and He mourns with them. He loves us, and THAT'S why He allows bad things to happen. So that we can become the best people we can possibly be, and become more like Him.

Going back to my original thought - giving credit where it's due - God does so much for us. He gives us love, family, and friendships. He helps us live up to our potential, by giving us a body and a brain. He gives us opportunities to improve ourselves. He gives us beautiful flowers, plants, animals, mountains, and oceans. And every day, if you pay attention, you can see Him performing miracles.

He performed a miracle today, when He saved my in-laws. He performed a miracle the day my daughter was born, when she entered the world 100% healthy and perfect, and I suffered no complications myself. He performs miracles each and every day. They happen all around us.

But from the cynics who choose to blame Him for all life's problems, He gets no credit.

I was singing "I Stand All Amazed" today, and one line hit me particularly hard. It was the line, "Such mercy, such love and devotion, can I forget?"

As I've mentioned before on my blog, we're having a hard time getting pregnant. We've been trying for more than a year and a half, and still have had no luck. This is one of our biggest trials at the moment, and there have been times when I've felt extremely impatient. I've even had a few moments of anger at God, because I know that He has it in His power to give me another child at any time.

As I sang that line today, it struck me that I HAVE been forgetting. God sent Christ to earth, to suffer and die to save me from my sins. He sacrificed His only begotten son, in order to save the rest of us. I can't imagine what it must be like, watching your child be murdered by your other children - the ones you're trying to save. And Christ was completely forgiving. He didn't place blame, or curse God. He simply said, "Forgive them Father, they know not what they do."

We are SO LOVED. God loves us, Christ loves us, and they both bless us constantly. To say otherwise is to do them a huge disservice.

I personally have a testimony that God loves me. He blesses me every day.

"Such mercy, such love and devotion, can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat
Until at the glorified throne, I kneel at His feet."