One of the hardest things to accept is that some of the things that happen in life simply have no reason. As Christians, I often hear fellow Christians say things like, "This is God's plan" or something along those lines. But the fact is that we live in a fallen world, and because of that, the devil gets his due. And sometimes, I believe this means that people we love will get hurt, and we will get hurt, for no reason at all. Thanks a lotAdam & Eve.
Let me give you two examples.
My best friend Casey's niece was stillborn on Monday. By all accounts, this should have been a viable pregnancy. When the baby was delivered, she was well over 4 lbs. instead of the 2 pounds most babies would be at this stage of the gestation period. And as Casey and I cried together on the phone Sunday night, I told her to be prepared for what our fellow Christians were going to say to her. I told her that someone, although well meaning, was going to say that maybe there was something wrong with the baby so God took it away. Or that this was God's plan, like I mentioned above. And Casey clearly said to me, "I don't see God in this...I see the Devil". I couldn't agree more...because I believe in a welcoming and loving God, not one that would purposely make that family suffer.
On a similar note, my best friend Keith was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer last July. He died August 9th at the age of 35 leaving behind two young children, a broken grieving family, and a slew of friends like myself who just don't know how to put the pieces of our lives back together again. For me, Keith was like a brother...but that's probably a different post. Anyways...I heard all the same things that I mentioned to Casey, and I just couldn't buy those sentiments. I mean why did Keith have to get cancer in the first place; why does anyone?
The answer to me is quite simple: Some things have no reason. Some things are not of God's doing, but the Devil's, and we have to recognize them and not blame God, but accept that we can't have it our way all the time. It would be great if we could, and we can't stop praying for miracles but we don't always get them. It's just the way of our fallen world.
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