I had a friend today ask me, "Amber, how do you believe in a god that allows such bad things to happen, or doesn't make the good things happen to just the good people?"
Does God allow bad things? Why don't good things happen to just "good" people?
I certainly do not have it ALL figured out! But for me, what if He DIDN'T allow bad things to happen?!
Would Jesus have come to give us His ultimate gift...death? A horrible, much undeserved one at that! For us, that gift has given us grace, mercy, and bountiful love! For us that was beautifully good, but for Jesus, in those moments of pure torture, wasn't that something God allowed we would all consider BAD, had that been one of us instead?!
If He didn't allow bad things to happen would we still have free will? Would we be able to say, "yes! That was God performing a miracle!" How can we see miracles if there is only ever good things? Would we know God, or would we all give credit to ourselves for all the good that we live in?
What about "Why do good things happen to bad people?" Or "Why are bad people allowed to become sources of hurt in our lives?"
Didn't God give us ALL (every person) free will? Free will doesn't extend to only those who know and follow Jesus. He gave that to each one of us... Unfortuately, sometimes that means peoples' bad CHOICES affect us too! But who can claim that their own bad choice has NOT affected another person or a group of people? Is one person better than another? We all make bad choices at certain points in our life, which in return will affect someone else...whose to say that we are the "good ones". Jesus died for us all right?! Thankfully yes! Even for me, and you, with our bad choices and all.
Now, I am most definitely NOT saying that I like bad things, or even want bad things to happen...certainly not! Nor am I saying that God creates bad things...God is perfectly good, and does not put bad things in our path. Bad things come from satan! But, I do know that if we call Jesus our Lord and have faith in Him then do we trust He has our best interest at heart? Do you trust Him in only the good things or do you still have faith and love for Him in the bad things too? How much faith would we really need if only good things surrounded us? How long does it take before we start thinking, "ok, God, I think I got this now. Thanks for getting me here, but i'm good now."
...I know I have done that!!
Thankfully He has given us grace in those moments when we can't seem to understand and want answers we can't seem to find! His power is great, and perfect. Be encouraged to know that He sees the WHOLE picture of our life. We only see tiny bits. We may not understand why, or how everything is gonna work or turn out, but God knows that about us and He understands! His promise to us in not that He will make all the "bad" things stay away, but rather He will gives us the strength, love, grace, compassion, tools, steps, and path to take when they come our way. All we have to do is ask...He does the rest! Praise God for that!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Sunday, November 13, 2011
He is always with us!
Have you ever felt that God just isn't there anymore?
The last 6 months or so have been a constant battle in me, fighting the thought (which is from Satan) that God doesn't really love me or isn't here for me as much as everyone says He is. Everyday was a battle for my heart and who was going to be at it's core. I have always had a very certain, concrete, no buts about it faith that Jesus was with me always and forever!! And then 6 months ago happened...
One day I woke up and seemingly out of nowhere started questioning everything I had always been so certain of. It was baffling to me, it was scary, and made me feel very insecure. I got on my knees immediately and asked God to protect my heart and mind because I could feel a battle was being started and I knew that for some reason God was gonna allow it, even though I knew HE was going to win it for me, I needed Him to protect me and give me the strength that comes only through Him to get through it! I knew I would learn something through it, but had no clue what this "road" was going to look like!! I did not want to go through it at all! Every day until now came a lie that Satan was going to try and "sell" me to believe. Everyday I literally came home emotionally exhausted because I could honestly feel the battle being fought, it was just in my head for nobody else to see!
Then 2 weeks ago happened...I was driving to work starting to believe yet another lie like every other day, this day the lie was that I was alone and Jesus couldn't hear me anymore. I was pouring out my heart to Jesus asking Him to please show Himself to me right there! By this time I was on the verge of crying and it wasn't even 7am yet! I was feeling very much DONE with this whole fight. In that moment, that exact second I asked God to do something right there in my car I got a bible verse sent to my phone from a friend who hadn't a clue what the last 6 months had presented to me! It read...The angle of God appeared to him and said, "God is with you, O mighty warrior!" Judges 6:12. In that instant the battle was over! It was just gone! No questioning on my part...just peace, and an overwhelming feeling of His love for me!!
Every single day I would ask God to deliver me from whatever lie Satan was trying to get me to relinquish myself to. I would run and have the most raw time being in His presence, struggling to find His peace that He promises us....God always came through and provided the answer I needed right when I needed it! I could not always feel Him, I couldn't see Him. But God said, "have faith," every time in a whisper, "keep going, I am still here! Be strong! I will get you through." I would ask Him to please show me what He was doing, please make it end! He would say, "not yet child, trust me...do you trust me?" I must admit that even though I said yes, I was not happy, or feeling very confident in Him, and felt weary! I needed His strength!
Now that I have had 2 weeks to look back, recover, and praise our Lord Jesus for His amazing love and grace (believe me I needed grace over this last 6 months), I am thrilled to have had that bumpy walk with just Him as my guide, or mostly a guide who was pushing me forward! Had I not had that time, I would not have the most certain faith that HE can and will get me through absolutely anything that gets put in my path! I thought I had that before, but now I know I didn't...thank you Jesus!
Maybe ask how your Faith is...do you BELIEVE/EXPECT that He will get you through the "vallies" and that He walks WITH you through them? Do you trust Him?
Here are some verses He sent through friends to me as I needed them...
"Don't be afraid," He said, "for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be strong" Daniel 10:19
Be on guard. Stand firm in faith. Be courageous. Be strong. and do everything with love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7
Be encouraged friends :)
The last 6 months or so have been a constant battle in me, fighting the thought (which is from Satan) that God doesn't really love me or isn't here for me as much as everyone says He is. Everyday was a battle for my heart and who was going to be at it's core. I have always had a very certain, concrete, no buts about it faith that Jesus was with me always and forever!! And then 6 months ago happened...
One day I woke up and seemingly out of nowhere started questioning everything I had always been so certain of. It was baffling to me, it was scary, and made me feel very insecure. I got on my knees immediately and asked God to protect my heart and mind because I could feel a battle was being started and I knew that for some reason God was gonna allow it, even though I knew HE was going to win it for me, I needed Him to protect me and give me the strength that comes only through Him to get through it! I knew I would learn something through it, but had no clue what this "road" was going to look like!! I did not want to go through it at all! Every day until now came a lie that Satan was going to try and "sell" me to believe. Everyday I literally came home emotionally exhausted because I could honestly feel the battle being fought, it was just in my head for nobody else to see!
Then 2 weeks ago happened...I was driving to work starting to believe yet another lie like every other day, this day the lie was that I was alone and Jesus couldn't hear me anymore. I was pouring out my heart to Jesus asking Him to please show Himself to me right there! By this time I was on the verge of crying and it wasn't even 7am yet! I was feeling very much DONE with this whole fight. In that moment, that exact second I asked God to do something right there in my car I got a bible verse sent to my phone from a friend who hadn't a clue what the last 6 months had presented to me! It read...The angle of God appeared to him and said, "God is with you, O mighty warrior!" Judges 6:12. In that instant the battle was over! It was just gone! No questioning on my part...just peace, and an overwhelming feeling of His love for me!!
Every single day I would ask God to deliver me from whatever lie Satan was trying to get me to relinquish myself to. I would run and have the most raw time being in His presence, struggling to find His peace that He promises us....God always came through and provided the answer I needed right when I needed it! I could not always feel Him, I couldn't see Him. But God said, "have faith," every time in a whisper, "keep going, I am still here! Be strong! I will get you through." I would ask Him to please show me what He was doing, please make it end! He would say, "not yet child, trust me...do you trust me?" I must admit that even though I said yes, I was not happy, or feeling very confident in Him, and felt weary! I needed His strength!
Now that I have had 2 weeks to look back, recover, and praise our Lord Jesus for His amazing love and grace (believe me I needed grace over this last 6 months), I am thrilled to have had that bumpy walk with just Him as my guide, or mostly a guide who was pushing me forward! Had I not had that time, I would not have the most certain faith that HE can and will get me through absolutely anything that gets put in my path! I thought I had that before, but now I know I didn't...thank you Jesus!
Maybe ask how your Faith is...do you BELIEVE/EXPECT that He will get you through the "vallies" and that He walks WITH you through them? Do you trust Him?
Here are some verses He sent through friends to me as I needed them...
"Don't be afraid," He said, "for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be strong" Daniel 10:19
Be on guard. Stand firm in faith. Be courageous. Be strong. and do everything with love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7
Be encouraged friends :)
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