So that you may have life

I don’t know about any of you but DAILY I hear of sickness and disease taking over my friends and their families. Brain tumors, cancer, premature death, miscarriages, etc. People are getting divorced in record numbers. Jobs are being lost. Family members estranged….i could go on and on. Now, I do think some of it is that I’m getting older, but still…its everywhere, every day.

For years and years, I believed, based on teachings that I still can’t nail down, that all of these things happen for the glory of the Lord. I wholeheartedly believed that God, the Father, inflicted this sickness/disease/death/poverty/lack/brokenness for His own glory to shine through. In fact, it so widely believed that Pastors are still preaching this message from the pulpit today. I recently saw a Pastor give a message to his congregation that God chose him to endure a battle with disease for God’s glory.

It wasn’t until my college years when I started to question why a loving Father would ever do such a thing. Why would a loving God honestly cause these to occur. I was met with plenty of answers. “For His glory” “God won’t give us anything we can’t handle” “God gave this to them so they could be stronger.” Really? MY God decided to give my friend the blessing of a baby in her womb (and the excitement of finding out she’s pregnant) and then decided to have that baby die resulting in a miscarriage (the ultimate low) and this was to make her STRONGER?? So that she’d believe more??? I couldn’t buy it. So, I stopped really believing.

Yes, you read that right, for a good two years I ran from the Gospel. I claimed to know there was a God but I couldn’t understand why he’d cause pain like that. I couldn’t really LOVE God with my whole heart because of this.

It wasn’t until I was in my current Church (mainly to impress EP who I was smitten with — its ok to admit, God can still work on you even if you aren’t really there for Him at first!) when I heard a message about John 10:10 that I really began to understand more than EVER what causes sickness, disease, death, lack…

The thief does not come except to STEAL, and to KILL, and to DESTROY. I have come that they may have LIFE, and that they may have it more ABUNDANTLY.

There is SO much that I can say about this one tiny little verse!!

Yall, the devil is the one coming to STEAL, KILL, and DESTROY!!! Our health, our jobs, our joy, our relationships, our children, our parents, our homes, our peace, our marriages…. all of these things. Jesus came so that we may have LIFE and not just any ordinary life but an ABUNDANT life!!! Now, tell me, would God not be contradicting himself if He says He’s here to bring life but yet He turns around and takes it??

We live in a fallen world. Because of the decision made by Adam and Eve we have allowed sin and all that comes with it (death, poverty, lack) into our lives. The Devil is at work on this Earth. It doesn’t matter how good we are living, its all around us. And it isn’t God that caused it!! God ALLOWS it to occur because of our fallenness. Period. Further, the Bible doesn’t talk about IF hard times come but WHEN…we will face trials in this life, but hear me GOD IS NOT CAUSING THEM!

So then I questioned, does God not know all these things are going to happen? Of course, He is all knowing but this is where the rubber meets the road. This is where God glory can shine. This is where you faith is exercised. This is when you become stronger….through your relying on God to get you THROUGH them.

In theory the “reasons” I was given above are true. These things do increase our faith. We learn to rely more than ever on our Father when going through these battles. Glory to God can be shown through trials and circumstance the devil causes. We CAN handle all these things with Gods strength. God can take these trials and make them good. He can heal us (that’s a WHOLE other ball game there!) But we really must stop saying that GOD is CAUSING these things to occur.

Can you imagine how confusing this is to people in other religions or the unchurched? Heck, look at how confusing it was to me and I WAS churched. We preach that we have a loving Father and then turn around during, for example an unexpected death, and say, “Well, the Lord knew took him away so that we could learn something, I just don’t know what, yet?” HUH? Can you see where they are thinking, “not sure if I want any of that God?” Imagine the mother who has lost a child believing God took him. Is she able to fully understand Jesus’ true love during that time or is she blaming him based on teaching she’s heard? I can promise you earlier in my life if these things happened to me I would be asking God why HE did it. Don’t you know he cries for/with us?? Satan has been so good at deceiving us in this area. For twisting scripture to make it seem God is doing this.

I just feel so strongly about changing our wording and recognizing the true devourer over our lives. In the last week I heard of several (yes, several!) miscarriages, a friend with small children dealing with cancer, kids being diagnosed with cancer or even passing away…this is not of God. Please stop saying so.

I want you to know this to take comfort. We have been deceived for too long. Realize where your battles come from so that you may draw closer and closer to Our Loving Father. Our God is a god of love and peace and He wants you to live an abundant life. Embrace Him, His arms are open wide.

{{there are so many scripture references i could have used in this post but i just really wanted to keep my focus straight}}

———

I feel like I should add this disclaimer because I know many of you who read my blog and I know the MANY MANY battles that you have had to face. I am in no way directing this at anyone. I hurt right along side of each one of you through these battles. I cry for you, I pray for you…I’m in no way speaking to anyone about how they have handled their personal situation. Each one of the people in my mind have dealt with things I’m not sure I could bear. You have ALL shown God greatness to ME through your circumstances. God’s glory has shown through your battles because it has impacted at least me. I just want you to know that God did not put this upon your life. He loves you too much.