Have you ever asked these kinds of questions?
“Did God allow my loved one to die?
I thought God was supposed to be there for us and answer our prayers?
What was God thinking when he allowed me to lose everything?
Is He really out there?
Does God really exist?”
These are all legitimate questions. We have all questioned God at one time or another if we are honest with ourselves. Maybe we felt guilty for questioning Him. Or maybe we were so angry and hurt we just didn’t care for a while. We may ask where is He and did He allow this to happen?
It is not unusual or even inappropriate for us to question God during times of despair and deep grief. Even people who consider themselves people of strong faith may be moved to ask such questions. It doesn’t mean we are abandoning our faith – we are simply crying out from the anguish in our soul. We are expressing a pain that is indescribable, and demanding answers to questions that may have no answer this side of Heaven.
It has been my experience that God has really big shoulders. He can handle our questions. He is here now, and will be here when we finish answering our questions ready to embrace us with open arms.
Where is God in my suffering?
Our grief can cause us to feel lonely and afraid. We may feel like God has abandoned us. The poem, “Footprints in the Sand”, by Carolyn Joyce Carty seems to capture what we may feel and puts this question into words for us.
Footprints in the Sand
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two set of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last...
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...ves in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Jesus Christ, as God’s only son experienced humanity in its fullness. He knew what it was like to laugh, love, and cry. He knew how it felt to lose a loved one to death. He knew hunger, thirst, loneliness, and feeling hurt, betrayed and depressed. Hebrews 4:15-16 talk about Jesus, our high priest. It says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Jesus Christ knows and cares about every one of us. He knows about hurt in all its colors. Yes we can say conclusively, based on the Bible, God does know about the pain of loss – He knows how it feels, and He cares for us.
...e toward him as well, since at one point he felt he deserved to die for what he had done. This grace gives him a purpose and strength to go on living, even though he may never completely overcome the hurt and pain.
As I continued to chat with my pastor that day, I really sensed the hurt in his eyes – the anger that comes from an unsolvable injustice, the tiredness of a problem. “What’s wrong?” I finally asked, “Having a bad day?” Sensing that I was truly concerned, he let the truth be told. “I talked with a woman today whose baby died suddenly of unknown causes. As we worked through her grief, she talked about how numerous friends and family, even a religious leader had patted her on the back, shook their heads and said, ‘It was God’s will.’ I find few things worse to say to a grieving parent. Saying nothing at all would be of more help.” It was obvious from our conversation that he had an understanding greater than I about God’s will, and his insight created in me a curiosity and desire to learn more.
Breavement is handeled differently in different generations. Weather it is a kid that has a terminal illness or an elderly person who is diagnosed with a terminal illness, each breave differently. Breavement deals with not just someone clsoe dying but, someone themselvs who is diagnosed with a life threatening illness.
C. S. Lewis asks the question, “where is God?”. What are your thoughts and answers about where God is in your time of grief or loss?
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God sees all that happens to us why does he not help us? God loves us
I ask a lot of questions; I’m a curious person. I once asked my mom why people die, why there are bad things in the world if God is so good and all-powerful. Her response was that we just couldn’t really understand why God does anything because we can’t comprehend God’s “master plan.” I’m sure that she was right, but that response is not very satisfying to a curious little boy. I saw an inconsistency in my understanding of reality, and I wanted to get things straight.
People have turned to God amidst suffering for thousands of years. Even today, it is quite common to hear that someone will be “prayed for” during times of hardship or struggle. Despite all of this, most people struggle when confronted with the image of God in suffering. People see God as a transcendent being who wields complete control yet allows heinous acts to occur. This false image of God can confuse people and create an enmity between them and God. However, people must understand that God is powerless in suffering. Although He cannot do anything to prevent suffering, God is omnipresent in suffering, giving people opportunities to show things such as love, empathy, or compassion.
Just think about that for a second. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, part of the Trinity, and the one God gave the world over to as a gift, became mortal, defied temptation, and ended up dying in a very painful, humiliating, and shameful way, in which God had to turn away. Just try and prove that we mere humans don't matter to God if He did all of that just so we could live with Him in heaven when we die! The love He showed us through that sacrifice was great. A sacrifice no human-being would be able to do because the cost was just too
Being a firm believer in God, one must never question their faith. Things may happen
Jerry Sittser’s book not only brings readers into loss with all its real emotions and pain but it also highlights truths that can be applied to anyone’s life. Sittser’s faith is evident throughout the book and his struggle of finding his faith within his loss and sorrow is encouraging to many. In the end, through his loss, he finds God again and through the writing of his book is now able to offer many insights on the Christian perspectives of sorrow, loss, forgiveness and how mental illness affects families. Sittser inspires readers because they have witnessed that they can too grow and continue living life despite their loss and without forgetting their loss.
The concept of God can be a difficult one to grasp especially in today's world - a world in which anyone that believes in God is trying to define exactly what God is. To even attempt to grasp such a concept, one must first recognize his own beliefs in respect to the following questions: Is God our creator? Is God omnipotent (all-powerful) or omniscient (all-knowing) or both? Does God care? Is God with us? Does God interfere with life on earth? These questions should be asked and carefully answered if one should truly wish to identify his specific beliefs in God's existence and persistence.
Understanding this is helpful in understanding all of Christ’s life. The only other time Christ is recorded as having wept, was in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he took the cup of the wrath of God. It makes sense that he would weep again when being confronted by death, the punishment he would have to bear for his people. This helps us understand his relation ship with God. Christ cried out for the last time when he was separated from God, “my father, my father, why have you forsaken me?”. Christ never felt pain until confronted with his punishment for our sins. Christ sacrificed everything for his people. It is wonderful to understand Christ’s will in the Gospel. He conveys to us an excellent message of his love and sorrow at our sin nature.
...ew questions and situations occur that cannot ever be foreseen except from the omnipotent God and these circumstances will need to be answered for those of faith. The challenge is for the language of that communication to remain consistent, even in the light of advancement and clarity, so that future generations do not lose the true word of God.
Pastors will also experience personal pain as they go through ministry. This is one of the methods that God can use to see that the pastor is growing and is more mature. It also helps the pastor to identify with the pain and suffering people in his congregation may be going through. This is evident in the life of the apostle Paul and others who have faithfully served the