So why does
misfortune occur? First, we must begin by addressing properly the concept
of cause-and-effect. For instance, if you decide to consume more alcohol
than your body is capable of processing, you will get sick and throw-up (or so
I have heard). When you’re sick, do you then blame God, knowing full well
it was you that chose to drink too much in the first place? And in point
of fact, if you did not throw-up you could die from it poisoning your
system. In this scenario, two important principles are at work - first,
you will pay the consequences of your choices - and second, others may pay for
them as well. The first decision to drink and impair judgment was
not a good one, but then, a second even worse decision may now occur
(particularly since you are no longer capable of using 100% of your brain
power) - you could decide to get behind the wheel of a car and drive in this
condition. Now what happens, a horrific accident where people die.
Ironically, usually the drunk lives through this one as he/she is fairly limp
when they collide. However, the family with small children dies from the
impact most every time. Whose fault is this? Is it the beer and
alcohol company's fault for making this product? Is it the bar-tender's
fault for serving it? Is it your friend’s fault for not stopping you from
driving? All those options sound better than the truth - it is clearly
and completely your own fault as a series of your
decisions, led to this result.
We enlightened, and
litigious Americans hate the concept of taking responsibility for our own
actions. We live in a culture that seeks to find someone, anyone else to
blame for our deeds and decisions. Otherwise we would be forced to look
in the mirror way too often for what happens in our own lives. Ah, but
what about the family of 5 that you killed in your drunken stupor. How is
your decision, your choice, their fault in any way? Shouldn’t God have
fixed this scenario for them at least? The answer to this is a bit
difficult but bear with me. In general, God does not interfere in the
free-will decisions we make on this earth. If He did, we could easily
resemble robots, forced into the slavery of His will. This He will not
accept. We must learn to choose Him of our own free will.
But with the power to
make the choice for good, comes the consequences of making the choice for
'evil'. When we choose 'evil' on any level, we inflict pain on at least 3
groups - ourselves, our God, and those around us. 'Evil' cannot be
contained to just destroying ourselves, like a dreaded viral disease, it
stretches out to everyone it can reach to inflict further pain. It is
said, 'no man is an island.' Never truer words were spoken with respect
to the consequences of 'evil' choices. And very often, those who SHOULD
NOT have to suffer from what we choose, in fact do suffer. And while evil
exists, this will remain true. The only way to exterminate evil is to
recognize it's true nature, and turn away from it. This process itself is
God authored and we will discuss it in more detail later. For now, the
point remains, as we choose to indulge evil, we lay the ground work for
inflicting pain on a much wider basis
than we anticipate.
There are those who
look at history, and say, how can there be a God, who allows 6 million of His
own people to die at Hitler's hands? They are not looking at the right
thing. Hitler's personal choices for 'evil' affected an entire
nation. He did not personally shoot 6 million Jews, he had PLENTY of
help, from complacent people who were afraid to choose 'good'; too lazy or
indifferent to choose 'good'; or just infected with racial prejudice & bias
and zealous enough to kill for this stupidity. Thousands of people
carried out these orders. Even more looked the other way. And to be
clear, the deaths were not limited to Jews, Gypsy's suffered about another 6-8
million losses, as well as endless numbers of German and Russian soldiers along
that front. God allowed Hitler to live out his life, as He did all of
those guilty accomplices, as He did for all of those people who turned a blind
eye - as He does for you and I as we sometimes choose to turn a blind eye to
places like Bosnia, or Darfur, or maybe just that poor guy who asks for money
at the intersection where you drive your car.
While in general, God does not normally interfere
with our free-will choices, there are times when He does. God has a
master plan and is in control of all of existence. He does not force your
decisions or your will, but He does sometimes protect you from the poorer
decisions of others. There are cases of miracles all throughout history
of people who escape death or harm due to the direct interference of the
divine. God's plans will be carried out. They will not be deterred
by 'evil'. This is not a guarantee that following God equals divine
protection. As we have seen time and again, our own choices often
directly impact us, and the choices of others. We don't follow God for
protection, or safety, for it is not fear we have of death. Remember
following God's plan means more than just the life you live today, there is something
more; we will discuss this more in a later section. The point is that the
meaning we seek in our individual lives is unaffected by the events that may
impact us. We leave the particulars of our existence in God's hands.
Lastly, there is one
other notion that needs to be looked at a little bit more. The question
'why do bad things happen to good people?' We have already talked about
choices and consequences, but the idea that there are 'good' people needs a
little bit of focus. First of all this question implies that God loves
someone in the equation less than someone else. For example, in the case
of our drunk driver who winds up killing the family - we assume the family was
'good' and the drunk driver was 'bad'. It is actually impossible to know
either of these things.
For those of you who
are parents, if one child hits a sibling, do you choose to love one of them
less - or are you sorry for the pain of the wounded - and worried to correct
the behavior of the one who caused it? God loves the drunkard every bit
as much as He loves the family. He weeps at the pain we go through, both
as victim, AND as perpetrator. One may be at fault, but pain is
experienced everywhere. This is the real nature of 'evil', it does not
discriminate, it wants everyone to experience pain. The goal of all
'evil' is to inflict as much pain on God as possible - how do you accomplish
this goal - why by attacking His children of course. And every created
being, God sees as His erring child. He loves them ALL. He wants
them ALL to be reconciled
with Him: even Hitler, even those that helped him, even me. We think
of ourselves as the only victims of evil, when the real target is actually God
Himself.
For those that face
the loss of someone they loved; for those who were abused by someone beyond
their control; for those who hurt for whatever reason, whether self-inflicted,
or by another's choice - God feels your pain. He would give anything to
stop the cycle of 'evil' that has impacted you. He hates what pain 'evil'
causes, and He assures you it WILL NOT LAST. There will be an end to the
'evil' you have experienced. Your life here may be hard, with little
comfort, but this will not always be so. There is something more.
God has plans that stretch out farther than your limited viewpoint can
see. He sees time unlike you. And He knows there will come a day
when all 'evil' is put to an end. And then finally, we will be united
forever in our choice for 'good'.
In a future section
we will discuss the final part of this series on 'Why me' from a more positive
perspective. In short, it is time to examine the greatest gift you will
ever be given.
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